CURDTTOPS 
AT  UNCLE  FRANK'S  RANCH 


:  HOWARD  R.  GARIS  • 


"YOU'VE  GOT  TO  GROAN  AND  PRETEND  YOU'VE.  BEEN  SHOT." 
The  Curlytops  at   Uncle  Frank's  Ranch  Page  7 


THE  CURLYTOPS 

AT 

ONCLE  FRANK'S  RANCH 

OR 

Little  Folks  on  Ponyback 


BY 

HOWARD  R.  GARIS 

AUTHOR  OF   "THE  CURLYTOPS  SERIES,"   "BEDTIME 
STORIES,"  "UNCLE  WIGGILY  SERIES,"  ETC. 


Illustrations  by 
JULIA    GREENE 


NEW  YORK 
CUPPLES  &  LEON  COMPANY 


THE  CURLYTOPS  SERIES 
By  HOWARD  R.  PARIS 

I2mo.     Cloth.     Illustrated. 


THE  CURLYTOPS  AT  CHERRY  FARM 
Or,  Vacation  Days  in  the  Country 

THE  CURLYTOPS  ON  STAR  ISLAND 
Or,  Camping  Out  With  Grandpa 

THE  CURLYTOPS  SNOWED  IN 

Or,  Grand  Fun  With  Skates  and  Sleds 

THE  CURLYTOPS  AT  UNCLE  FRANK'S 

RANCH 
Or,  Little  Folks  on  Ponyback 


CUPPLES  &  LEON  COMPANY,  New  York 


COPYRIGHT,  1918,  BY 
CUPPLES  &  LEON  COMPANY 


THE  CURLYTOPS  AT  UNCLE  FRANK'S  RANCH 

Printed  in  U.  S.  A. 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTB 
I 

K 

TROUBLE'S  TUMBLE  .    .    . 

PAGE 

1 

II 

NICKNACK  AND  TROUBLE   . 

.      13 

III 

OFF  FOR  THE  WEST   .    .    . 

.      28 

IV 

THE  COLLISION     .    .    .    . 

.      40 

V 

VI 

AT  RING  ROSY  RANCH  .    . 
COWBOY  FUN  

.      55 
63 

VII 

BAD  NEWS  

72 

VIII 

A  QUEER  NOISE    .... 

.      87 

IX 

THE  SICK  PONY  .... 

.    101 

X 

A  SURPRISED  DOCTOR     .    . 

.    114 

XI 

TROUBLE  MAKES  A  LASSO   . 

.    122 

XII 

THE  BUCKING  BRONCO  .    . 

.    140 

XIII 

MISSING  CATTLE  .... 

.    153 

XIV 

LOOKING  FOR  INDIANS   .    . 

167 

2088247 


Contents 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

XV    TROUBLE  "HELPS"  ....  175 

XVI    ON  THE  TRAIL 189 

XVII    THE  CURLYTOPS  ALONE  .    .    .  196 

XVIII    LOST 209 

XIX    THE  HIDDEN  VALLEY    ...  222 

XX    BACK  TO  RING  ROSY.        .    .  237 


THE   CURLYTOPS 

AT  UNCLE  FRANK'S  RANCH 

CHAPTER   I 
TROUBLE'S  TUMBLE 

"SAY,  Jan,  this  isn't  any  fun!" 
"What  do  you  want  to  play  then,  Ted?" 
Janet  Martin  looked  at  her  brother,  who 
was  dressed  in  one  of  his  father's  coats  and 
hats  while  across  his  nose  was  a  pair  of 
spectacles  much  too  large  for  him.    Janet, 
wearing  one  of  her  mother's  skirts,  was  sit- 
ting in  a  chair  holding  a  doll. 

"Well,  I'm  tired  of  playing  doctor,  Jan, 
and  giving  your  make-believe  sick  doll  bread 
pills.  I  want  to  do  something  else,"  and 
Teddy  began  taking  off  the  coat,  which  was 
so  long  for  him  that  it  dragged  on  the 
ground. 

"Oh,  I  know  what  we  can  do  that'll  be 
lots  of  fun!"  cried  Janet,  getting  up  from 
the  chair  so  quickly  that  she  forgot  about 


2     The  Curlytops  at  Uncle  Frank's  Ranch 

her  doll,  which  fell  to  the  floor  with  a  crash 
that  might  have  broken  her  head. 

"Oh,  my  dear  I"  cried  Janet,  as  she  had 
often  heard  her  mother  call  when  Baby  Wil- 
liam tumbled  and  hurt  himself.  "Oh,  are 
you  hurt?"  and  Janet  clasped  the  doll  in 
her  arms,  and  hugged  it  as  though  it  were 
a  real  child. 

"Is  she  busted?"  Ted  demanded,  but  he 
did  not  ask  as  a  real  doctor  might  inquire. 
In  fact,  he  had  stopped  playing  doctor. 

"No,  she  isn't  hurt,  I  guess,"  Jan  an- 
swered, feeling  of  her  dolPs  head.  "I  for- 
got all  about  her  being  in  my  lap.  Oh,  ar en 't 
you  going  to  play  any  more,  Ted  ? ' '  she  asked 
as  she  saw  her  brother  toss  the  big  coat  on 
a  chair  and  take  off  the  spectacles. 

"No.  I  want  to  do  something  else.  This 
is  no  fun!" 

"Well,  let's  make-believe  you're  sick  and 
I  can  be  a  Red  Cross  nurse,  like  some  of 
those  we  saw  in  the  drugstore  window  down 
the  street,  making  bandages  for  the  soldiers. 
You  could  be  a  soldier,  Ted,  and  I  could  be 
the  nurse,  and  I'd  make  some  sugar  pills  for 
you,  if  you  don't  like  the  rolled-up  bread 
ones  you  gave  my  doll." 

Teddy  Martin  thought  this  over  for  a  few 


Trouble's  Tumble 8 

seconds.  He  seemed  to  like  it.  And  then 
he  shook  his  head. 

"No,"  he  answered  his  sister,  "I  couldn't 
be  a  soldier." 

"Why  not?" 

"  'Cause  I  haven't  got  a  gun  and  there 
isn't  any  tent." 

"We  could  make  a  tent  with  a  sheet  off 
the  bed  like  we  do  lots  of  times.  Put  it  over 
a  chair,  you  know." 

"But  I  haven't  a  gun,"  Teddy  went  on. 
He  knew  that  he  and  Janet  could  make  a 
tent,  for  they  had  often  done  it  before. 

"Couldn't  you  take  a  broom  for  a  gun?" 
Janet  asked.  "  I  '11  get  it  from  the  kitchen. ' ' 

"Pooh!  What  good  is  a  broom  for  a 
gun?  I  want  one  that  shoots!  Anyhow  I 
haven't  a  uniform,  and  a  soldier  can't  go  to 
war  without  a  uniform  or  a  sword  or  a  gun. 
I'm  not  going  to  play  that!" 

Janet  did  not  know  what  to  say  for  a  few 
seconds.  Truly  a  soldier  would  not  be  much 
of  one  without  a  gun  or  a  uniform,  even  if 
he  was  in  a  tent.  But  the  little  girl  had  not 
given  up  yet. 

The  day  was  a  rainy  one.  There  was  no 
school,  for  it  was  Saturday,  and  staying  in 
the  house  was  no  great  fun.  Janet  wanted 


4     The  Curlytops  at  Uncle  Frank's  Ranch 

her  brother  to  stay  and  play  with  her  and 
she  knew  she  must  do  something  to  make 
him.  For  a  while  he  had  been  content  to 
play  that  he  was  Dr.  Thompson,  come  to 
give  medicine  to  Jan's  sick  doll.  But  Teddy 
had  become  tired  of  this  after  paying  half 
a  dozen  visits  and  leaving  pills  made  by 
rolling  bread  crumbs  together. 

Teddy  laid  aside  his  father's  old  hat  and 
scratched  his  head.  That  is  he  tried  to,  but 
his  head  was  so  covered  with  tightly  twisted 
curls  that  the  little  boy's  fingers  were  fairly 
entangled  in  them. 

"Say!"  he  exclaimed,  "I  wish  my  hair 
didn't  curl  so  much !  It's  too  long.  I'm  go- 
ing to  ask  mother  if  I  can't  have  it  cut." 

"I  wish  I  could  have  mine  cut,"  sighed 
Janet.  " Mine's  worse  to  comb  than  yours 
is,  Ted." 

"Yes,  I  know.  And  it  always  curls  more 
on  a  rainy  day." 

Both  children  had  the  same  curly  hair.  It 
was  really  beautiful,  but  they  did  not  quite 
appreciate  it,  even  though  many  of  their 
friends,  and  some  persons  who  saw  them  for 
the  first  time,  called  them ' '  Curlytops. ' '  In- 
deed the  tops  of  their  heads  were  very  curly. 

"Oh,  I  know  how  we  can  do  it  1"  suddenly 


Trouble's  Tumble 


cried  Janet,  just  happening  to  think  of 
something. 

"Do  what?"  asked  her  brother. 

"Play  the  soldier  game.  You  can  pretend 
you  were  caught  by  the  enemy  and  your  gun 
and  uniform  were  taken  away.  Then  you 
can  be  hurt  and  I'll  be  the  Red  Cross  nurse 
and  take  care  of  you  in  the  tent.  I'll  get 
some  real  sugar  for  pills,  too!  Nora '11  give 
me  some.  She's  in  the  kitchen  now  making 
a  cake." 

"Maybe  she'd  give  you  a  piece  of  cake, 
too,"  suggested  Teddy. 

"Maybe,"  agreed  Janet.  "I'll  go  and 
ask  her." 

"Ask  her  for  some  chocolate,"  added  Ted. 
"I  guess,  if  I've  got  to  be  sick,  I'd  like  choco- 
late pills  'stead  of  sugar." 

"All  right,"  said  Janet,  as  she  hurried 
downstairs  from  the  playroom  to  the 
kitchen.  In  a  little  while  she  came  back 
with  a  plate  on  which  were  two  slices  of 
chocolate  cake,  while  on  one  edge  of  it  were 
some  crumbs  of  chocolate  icing. 

"I'll  make  pills  of  that  after  we  eat  the 
cake,"  Janet  said.  "You  can  pretend  the 
cake  made  you  sick  if  you  want  to,  Ted." 

"Pooh!  who  ever  heard  of  a  soldier  get- 


6 


ting  sick  on  cake  ?  Anyhow  they  don't  have 
cake  in  the  army — lessen  they  capture  it 
from  the  enemy." 

"Well,  you  can  pretend  you  did  that/' 
said  Janet.  "Now  I'll  put  my  doll  away," 
she  went  on,  as  she  finished  her  piece  of 
cake,  "and  we'll  play  the  soldier  game.  I'll 
get  some  red  cloth  to  make  the  cross." 

Janet  looked  "sweet,"  as  her  mother  said 
afterward,  when  she  had  wound  a  white 
cloth  around  her  head,  a  red  cross,  rather 
ragged  and  crooked,  being  pinned  on  in 
front. 

The  tent  was  made  by  draping  a  sheet 
from  the  bed  across  two  chairs,  and  under 
this  shelter  Teddy  crawled.  He  stretched 
out  on  a  blanket  which  Janet  had  spread  on 
the  floor  to  be  the  hospital  cot. 

"Now  you  must  groan,  Ted,"  she  said,  as 
she  looked  in  a  glass  to  see  if  her  headpiece 
and  cross  were  on  straight. 

"Groan?    What  for?" 

"  'Cause  you've  been  hurt  in  the  war,  or 
else  you're  sick  from  the  cake." 

"Pooh!  a  little  bit  of  cake  like  that 
wouldn't  make  me  sick.  You've  got  to  give 
me  a  lot  more  if  you  want  me  to  be  real 
sick." 


Trouble's  Tumble 


"Oh,  Teddy  Martin!  I'm  not  going  to 
play  if  you  make  fun  like  that  all  the  while. 
You've  got  to  groan  and  pretend  you've 
been  shot.  Never  mind  about  the  cake." 

' '  All  right.  I  '11  be  shot  then.  But  you  Ve 
got  to  give  me  a  lot  of  chocolate  pills  to  make 
me  get  better." 

"I'm  not  going  to  give  'em  to  you  all  at 
once,  Ted  Martin!" 

"Well,  maybe  in  two  doses  then.  How 
many  are  there?" 

1 1  Oh,  there 's  a  lot.  I  'm  going  to  take  some 
myself." 

"You  are  not!"  and  Teddy  sat  up  so 
quickly  that  he  hit  the  top  of  the  sheet-tent 
with  his  head  and  made  it  slide  from  the 
chair. 

"There!  Look  what  you  did!"  cried 
Janet.  "Now  you've  gone  and  spoiled  every- 
thing!" 

"Oh,  well,  I'll  fix  it,"  said  Ted,  rather 
sorry  for  what  he  had  done.  "But  you  can 't 
eat  my  chocolate  pills." 

"I  can  so!" 

"You  cannot!  Who  ever  heard  of  a 
nurse  taking  the  medicine  from  a  sick  sol- 
dier?" 

"Well,  anyhow — well,  wouldn't  you  give 


8     The  Curlytops  at  Uncle  Frank's  Ranch 

me  some  chocolate  candy  if  you  had  some, 
and  I  hadn't?"  asked  Janet. 

"Course  I  would,  Jan.    I'm  not  stingy!" 

"Well,  these  pills  are  just  like  chocolate 
candy,  and  if  I  give  'em  all  to  you " 

"Oh,  well,  then  I'll  let  you  eat  some," 
agreed  Ted.  "But  you  wanted  me  to  play 
this  game  of  bein'  a  sick  soldier,  and  if  I'm 
sick  I've  got  to  have  the  medicine." 

"Yes,  I'll  give  you  the  most,"  Janet 
agreed.  "Now  you  lie  down  and  groan  and 
I'll  hear  you  out  on  the  battlefield  and  come 
and  save  your  life. " 

So,  after  Janet  had  fixed  the  sheet  over 
him  again,  Teddy  lay  back  on  the  blanket 
and  groaned  his  very  best. 

"Oh,  it  sounds  as  real  as  anything!"  ex- 
claimed the  little  girl  in  delight.  "Do  it 
some  more,  Ted!" 

Thereupon  her  brother  groaned  more 
loudly  until  Janet  stopped  him  by  dropping 
two  or  three  chocolate  pills  into  his  opened 
mouth. 

"Oh!  Gurr-r-r-r!  Ugh!  Say,  you 'most 
choked  me!"  spluttered  Ted,  as  he  sat  up 
and  chewed  the  chocolate. 

"Oh,  I  didn't  mean  to,"  said  Janet  as  she 
ate  a  pill  or  two  herself.  ' '  Now  you  lie  down 


Trouble's  Tumble  9 

and  go  to  sleep,  'cause  I've  got  a  lot  more 
sick  soldiers  to  go  to  see." 

" Don't  give  'em  any  of  my  chocolate 
pills,"  cautioned  Ted.  "I  need  'em  all  to 
make  me  get  better." 

"I'll  only  make-believe  give  them  some," 
promised  Janet. 

She  and  her  brother  played  this  game  for 
a  while,  and  Teddy  liked  it — as  long  as  the 
chocolate  pills  were  given  him.  But  when 
Janet  had  only  a  few  left  and  Teddy  was 
about  to  say  he  was  tired  of  lying  down, 
someone  came  into  the  playroom  and  a  voice 
asked : 

"What  you  doin"?" 

"Playing  soldier,"  answered  Janet. 
"You  mustn't  drop  your  'g'  letters,  Trouble. 
Mother  doesn't  like  it." 

"I  want  some  chocolate,"  announced  the 
little  boy,  whose  real  name  was  William 
Martin,  but  who  was  more  often  called  Trou- 
ble— because  he  got  in  so  much  of  it,  you 
know. 

"There's  only  one  pill  left.  Can  I  give  it 
to  him,  Ted?"  asked  Janet. 

"Yes,  Janet.  I've  had  enough.  Anyhow, 
I  know  something  else  to  play  now.  It's  lots 
of  fun!" 


10    The  Curlytops  at  Uncle  Frank's  Ranch 

"What?"  asked  Janet  eagerly.  It  was 
still  raining  hard  and  she  wanted  her 
brother  to  stay  in  the  house  with  her. 

"We'll  play  horse,"  went  on  Ted.  "I'll 
be  a  bucking  bronco  like  those  Uncle  Frank 
told  us  about  on  his  ranch.  We'll  make  a 
place  with  chairs  where  they  keep  the  cow 
ponies  and  the  broncos.  I  forget  what 
Uncle  Frank  called  it." 

"I  know,"  said  Janet.  "It's  cor — cor- 
ral." 

"Corral!"  exclaimed  Ted.  "That's  it! 
We'll  make  a  corral  of  some  chairs  and  I'll 
be  a  bucking  bronco.  That's  a  horse  that 
won't  let  anybody  ride  on  its  back,"  the 
little  boy  explained. 

"I  wants  a  wide!"  said  Baby  William. 

"Well,  maybe  I'll  give  you  a  ride  after  I 
get  tired  of  bucking,"  said  Teddy,  thinking 
about  it 

They  made  a  ring  of  chairs  on  the  play- 
room floor,  and  in  this  corral  Teddy  crept 
around  on  his  hands  and  knees,  pretending 
to  be  a  wild  Western  pony.  Janet  tried  to 
catch  him  and  the  children  had  much  fun, 
Trouble  screaming  and  laughing  in  delight. 

At  last  Teddy  allowed  himself  to  be 
caught,  for  it  was  hard  work  crawling 


Trouble's  Tumble 11 

around  as  he  did,  and  rearing  up  in  the  air 
every  now  and  then. 

"Give  me  a  wide!"  pleaded  Trouble. 

"Yes,  I'll  ride  him  on  my  back/*  offered 
Teddy,  and  his  baby  brother  was  put  up 
there  by  Janet. 

"Now  don't  go  too  fast  with  him,  pony," 
she  said. 

"Yes,  I  wants  to  wide  fast,  like  we  does 
with  Mcknack,"  declared  Baby  William. 
Mcknack  was  the  Curlytops'  pet  goat. 

"All  right,  I'll  give  you  a  fast  ride," 
promised  Teddy. 

He  began  crawling  about  the  room  with 
Trouble  on  his  back.  The  baby  pretended 
to  drive  his  "horse"  by  a  string  which  Ted 
held  in  his  mouth  like  reins. 

"Go  out  in  de  hall — I  wants  a  big  wide," 
directed  Trouble. 

"All  right,"  assented  Teddy.  Out  into 
the  hall  he  went  and  then  forgetting,  per- 
haps, that  he  had  his  baby  brother  on  his 
back,  Teddy  began  to  buck — that  is  flop  up 
and  down. 

"Oh— oh!  'top!"  begged  Trouble. 

"I  can't!  I'm  a  Wild-West  pony,"  ex- 
plained Ted,  bucking  harder  than  ever. 

He  hunched  himself  forward  on  his  hands 


12     The  Curly  tops  at  Uncle  Frank's  Ranch 

and  knees,  and  before  he  knew  it  he  was  at 
the  head  of  the  stairs.  Then,  just  how  no 
one  could  say,  Trouble  gave  a  yell,  toppled 
off  Teddy's  back  and  the  next  instant  went 
rolling  down  the  flight,  bump,  bump,  bump- 
ing at  every  step. 


CHAPTER  II 

AND  TROUBLE 


"OH,  Teddy!"  screamed  Janet.  "Oh, 
frcrob1*!" 

Teddy  did  not  answer  at  once.  Indeed 
he  had  hard  work  not  to  tumble  down  the 
stairs  himself  after  his  little  brother.  Ted 
^lung  to  the  banister,  though,  and  managed 
to  save  himself. 

"Oh,  he'll  be  hurt—  terrible!"  cried 
Janet,  and  she  tried  to  get  past  her  older 
brother  to  run  downstairs  after  Trouble. 

But  Mrs.  Martin,  who  was  in  the  dining- 
room  talking  to  Nora  Jones,  the  maid,  heard 
the  noise  and  ran  out  into  the  hall. 

"Oh,  children!"  she  cried.  "Teddy- 
Janet  —  what's  all  that  noise?" 

"It's  Trouble,  Mother!"  announced 
Teddy.  "I  was  playing  bucking  bronco 
and  -  " 

13 


14     The  Curlytops  at  Uncle  Frank's  Ranch 

"Trouble  fell  downstairs!"  screamed 
Janet. 

While  everyone  was  thus  calling  out  at 
once,  Baby  William  came  flopping  head  over 
heels,  and  partly  sidewise,  down  the  padded 
steps,  landing  right  at  his  mother's  feet,  sit- 
ting up  as  straight  as  though  in  his  high- 
chair. 

"Oh,  darling!"  cried  Mrs.  Martin,  catch- 
ing the  little  fellow  up  in  her  arms,  "are 
you  hurt?" 

Trouble  was  too  much  frightened  to 
scream  or  cry.  He  had  his  mouth  open  but 
no  sound  came  from  it.  He  was  just  like 
the  picture  of  a  sobbing  baby. 

"Oh,  Nora!"  cried  Mrs.  Martin,  as  she 
hurried  into  the  dining-room  with  her  little 
boy  in  her  arms.  * '  Trouble  fell  downstairs ! 
Get  ready  to  telephone  for  his  father  and 
the  doctor  in  case  he's  badly  hurt,"  and  then 
she  and  the  maid  began  looking  over  Baby 
William  to  find  out  just  what  was  the  matter 
with  him,  while  Ted  and  Janet,  much  fright- 
ened and  very  quiet,  stood  around  waiting. 

And  while  Mrs.  Martin  is  looking  over 
Trouble  it  will  be  a  good  chance  for  me  to 
tell  those  of  you  who  meet  the  Curlytops  for 
the  first  time  in  this  book  something  about 


Nicknack  and  Trouble  15 

them,  and  what  has  happened  to  them  in 
the  other  volumes  of  this  series. 

The  first  book  is  named  "The  Curlytops 
at  Cherry  Farm,"  and  in  that  I  had  the 
pleasure  of  telling  you  about  Ted  and  Janet 
and  Trouble  Martin  and  their  father  and 
mother,  when  they  went  to  Grandpa  Mar- 
tin's place,  called  Cherry  Farm,  which  was 
near  the  village  of  Elmburg,  not  far  from 
Clover  Lake. 

There  the  children  found  a  goat,  which 
they  named  Nicknack,  and  they  kept  him 
as  a  pet.  When  hitched  to  a  wagon  he  gave 
them  many  nice  rides.  There  were  many 
cherry  trees  on  Grandpa  Martin's  farm,  and 
when  some  of  the  other  crops  failed  the 
cherries  were  a  great  help,  especially  when 
the  Lollypop  Man  turned  them  into  "Chew- 
ing Cherry  Candy." 

After  a  good  time  on  the  farm  the  chil- 
dren had  more  fun  when,  as  told  in  the  sec- 
ond book,  named  "The  Curlytops  on  Star 
Island,"  they  went  camping  with  grandpa. 
On  Star  Island  in  Clover  Lake  they  saw  a 
strange  blue  light  which  greatly  puzzled 
them,  and  it  was  some  time  before  they  knew 
what  caused  it. 

The  summer  and  fall  passed  and  Ted  and 


16     The  Curly  tops  at  Uncle  Frank's  Ranch 

Janet  went  home  to  Cresco,  where  they 
lived,  to  spend  the  winter.  "What  happened 
then  is  told  in  the  third  volume,  called  "The 
Curlytops  Snowed  In."  The  big  storm  was 
so  severe  that  no  one  could  get  out  and  even 
Nicknack  was  lost  wandering  about  in  the 
big  drifts. 

The  Curlytops  had  a  good  time,  even  if 
they  were  snowed  in.  Now  spring  had  come 
again,  and  the  children  were  ready  for  some- 
thing else.  But  I  must  tell  you  a  little  bit 
about  the  family,  as  well  as  about  what  hap- 
pened. 

You  have  already  met  Ted,  Jan  and  Trou- 
ble. Ted's  real  name  was  Theodore,  but 
his  mother  seldom  called  him  that  unless  she 
was  quite  serious  about  something  he  had 
done  that  was  wrong.  So  he  was  more  often 
spoken  to  as  Ted  or  Teddy,  and  his  sister 
Janet  was  called  Jan.  Though  oftener  still 
they  were  called  the  "Curlytops,"  or,  if  one 
was  speaking  to  one  or  the  other  he  would 
say  "Curlytop."  That  was  because  both 
Teddy  and  Janet  had  such  very,  very  curly 
hair. 

Ted's  and  Jan's  birthdays  came  OK  the 
same  day,  but  they  had  been  born  a  year 
apart,  Teddy  being  about  seven  years 


Nicknack  and  Trouble  17 

and  his  sister  a  year  younger.  Trouble  was 
aged  about  three  years. 

I  have  spoken  of  the  curly  hair  of  Teddy 
and  Janet.  Unless  you  had  seen  it  you 
would  never  have  believed  hair  could  be  so 
curly !  It  was  no  wonder  that  even  strangers 
called  the  children  "Curlytops." 

Sometimes,  when  Mother  Martin  was 
combing  the  hair  of  the  children,  the  comb 
would  get  tangled  and  she  would  have  to 
pull  a  little  to  get  it  loose.  That  is  one 
reason  Ted  never  liked  to  have  his  hair 
combed.  Janet  ?s  was  a  little  longer  than  his, 
but  just  as  curly. 

Trouble's  real  name,  as  I  have  mentioned, 
was  William.  His  father  sometimes  called 
him  "A  bunch  of  trouble,"  and  his  mother 
spoke  of  him  as  "Dear  Trouble, "  while  Jan. 
and  Ted  called  him  just  "Trouble." 

Mr.  Martin,  whose  name  was  Richard, 
shortened  to  Dick  by  his  wife  (whose  name 
was  Ruth)  owned  a  store  in  Cresco,  which 
is  in  one  of  our  Eastern  states. 

Nora  Jones,  a  cheerful,  helpful  maid-of- 
all-work  had  been  in  the  Martin  family  a 
long  while,  and  dearly  loved  the  children, 
who  were  very  fond  of  her.  The  Martins 
had  many  relatives  besides  the  children's 


18     The  Curly  tops  at  Uncle  Frank's  Ranch 

grandfather  and  grandmother,  but  I  will 
only  mention  two  now.  They  were  Aunt 
Josephine  Miller,  called  Aunt  Jo,  who  lived 
at  Clayton  and  who  had  a  summer  bungalow 
at  Mt.  Hope,  near  Ruby  Lake.  She  was  a 
sister  of  Mrs.  Martin's.  Uncle  Frank 
Barton  owned  a  large  ranch  near  Rockville, 
Montana.  He  was  Mr.  Martin's  uncle,  but 
Ted  and  Janet  also  called  him  their  uncle. 

Now  that  you  have  met  the  chief  members 
of  the  family,  and  know  a  little  of  what  has 
happened  to  them  in  the  past  you  may  be 
interested  to  go  back  to  see  what  the  matter 
is  with  Trouble. 

His  mother  turned  him  over  and  over  in 
her  arms,  feeling  of  him  here  and  there. 
Trouble  had  closed  his  mouth  by  this  time, 
having  changed  his  mind  about  crying.  In- 
stead he  was  very  still  and  quiet. 

"Trouble,  does  it  hurt  you  anywhere!" 
his  mother  asked  him  anxiously. 

"No,"  he  said.  "Not  hurt  any  place.  I 
wants  to  wide  on  Teddy's  back  some  more." 

"The  little  tyke!"  exclaimed  Mrs.  Martin 
with  a  sigh  of  relief.  "I  don't  believe  he  is 
hurt  a  bit." 

"The  stairs  are  real  soft  since  we  put  the 
new  carpet  on  them,"  remarked  Nora. 


Nicknack  and  Trouble  19 

"They  are  well  padded,"  agreed  Mrs. 
Martin.  "I  guess  that's  what  kept  him 
from  getting  hurt.  It  was  like  rolling  down 
a  feather  bed.  But  he  might  have  got  his 
arm  or  leg  twisted  under  him  and  have 
broken  a  bone.  How  did  he  happen  to  fall. ' ' 

"We  were  playing  Red  Cross  nurse,"  be- 
gan Janet,  "and  Ted  was  a  soldier  in  a  tent 
and " 

"But  how  could  William  fall  downstairs 
if  you  were  playing  that  sort  of  game?" 
asked  her  mother. 

"Oh,  we  weren't  playing  it  then,"  put  in 
Ted.  "We'd  changed  to  another  game.  I 
was  a  wild  Western  bronco,  like  those  on 
Uncle  Frank's  ranch,  and  I  was  giving 
Trouble  a  ride  on  my  back.  I  gave  a  jump 
when  I  was  near  the  stairs,  and  I  guess  he 
must  have  slipped  off." 

"There  isn't  any  guessing  about  it — he 
did  slip  off,"  said  Mrs.  Martin  with  a  smile, 
as  she  put  Trouble  in  a  chair,  having  made 
sure  he  was  not  hurt,  and  that  there  was  no 
need  of  telephoning  for  his  father  or  the 
doctor.  "You  must  be  more  careful,  Teddy. 
You  might  have  hurt  your  little  brother." 

"Yes'm,"  Teddy  answered.  "I  won't  do 
it  again." 


20     The  Curlytops  at  Uncle  Frank's  Ranch 

"But  we  want  to  play  something,"  put  in 
Janet.    "It's  no  fun  being  in  the  house  all 


"I  know  it  isn't.  But  I  think  the  rain  is 
going  to  stop  pretty  soon.  If  you  get  your 
rain-coats  and  rubbers  you  may  go  out  for  a 
little  while." 

"Me  go  too?"  begged  Trouble. 

"Yes,  you  may  go  too,"  agreed  his 
mother.  "You'll  all  sleep  better  if  you  get 
some  fresh  air;  and  it's  warm,  even  if  it  has 
been  raining." 

"Maybe  we  can  take  Nieknack  and  have 
a  ride  !"  exclaimed  Teddy. 

"If  it  stops  raining,"  said  his  mother. 

Ted,  Jan  and  Trouble  ran  up  and  down 
in  front  of  the  house  while  the  rain  fell 
softly  and  the  big  drops  dripped  from  the 
trees.  Then  the  clouds  broke  away,  the  sun 
came  out,  the  rain  stopped  and  with  shouts 
and  laughter  the  children  ran  to  the  barn 
next  to  which,  in  a  little  stable  of  his  own, 
Nicknack,  the  goat,  was  kept. 

"Come  on  out,  Nicknack!"  cried  Janet. 
"You're  going  to  give  us  a  ride!" 

And  Nicknack  did,  being  hitched  to  the 
goat-cart  in  which  there  was  room  and  to 
spare  for  Janet,  Ted  and  Trouble.  Up  and 


NicknacJc  and  Trouble  21 

down  the  street  in  front  of  their  home  the 
Martin  children  drove  their  pet  goat. 

"Whee,  this  is  fun!"  cried  Ted,  as  he 
made  Mcknack  run  downhill  with  the 
wagon. 

"Oh,  Teddy  Martin,  don't  go  so  fast!" 
begged  Janet. 

"I  like  to  go  fast  I"  answered  her  brother. 
"I'm  going  to  play  Wild  West.  This  is  the 
stage  coach  and  pretty  soon  the  Indians  will 
shoot  at  us!" 

"Teddy  Martin !  if  you're  going  to  do  that 
I'm  not  going  to  play!"  stormed  Janet. 
"You'll  make  Trouble  fall  out  and  get  hurt. 
Come  on,  Trouble!  Let  us  get  out!"  she 
cried.  Nicknack  was  going  quite  fast  down 
the  hill. 

"Wait  till  we  get  to  the  bottom,"  shouted 
Ted.  "G'lang  there,  pony!"  he  cried  to  the 
goat. 

"Let  me  out !"  screamed  Janet.  "I  want 
to  get  out." 

At  the  foot  of  the  hill  Teddy  stopped  the 
goat  and  Janet,  taking  Trouble  with  her,  got 
out  and  walked  back  to  the  house. 

"What's  the  matter  now?"  asked  Mrs. 
Martin  from  the  porch  where  she  had  come 
out  to  get  a  little  fresh  air. 


22    The  Curlytops  at  Uncle  Frank's  Ranch 

" Ted's  playing  Wild  West  in  the  goat- 
wagon,"  explained  Janet. 

"Oh,  Ted!  Don't  be  so  rough !"  begged 
his  mother  of  her  little  son,  who  drove  up 
just  then. 

"Oh,  I'm  only  playing  Indians  and  stage 
coach,"  he  said.  "You've  got  to  go  fast 
when  the  Indians  are  after  you!"  and  away 
he  rode. 

"He's  awful  mean!"  declared  Janet. 

"I  don't  know  what's  come  over  Ted  of 
late,"  said  Mrs.  Martin  to  her  husband,  who 
came  up  the  side  street  just  then  from  his 
store. 

"What's  he  been  doing?"  asked  Mr. 
Martin. 

"Oh,  he's  been  pretending  he  was  a  buck- 
ing bronco,  like  those  Uncle  Frank  has  on 
his  ranch,  and  he  tossed  Trouble  downstairs. 
But  the  baby  didn't  get  hurt,  fortunately. 
Now  Ted's  playing  Wild  West  stagecoach 
with  Nicknack  and  Janet  got  frightened  and 
wouldn't  ride." 

"Hum,  I  see,"  said  Ted's  father  slowly. 
"Our  boy  is  getting  older,  I  guess.  He  needs 
rougher  play.  Well,  I  think  I've  just  the 
very  thing  to  suit  him,  and  perhaps  Janet 
and  all  of  us." 


Nicknack  and  Trouble  23 

"What  is  it?"  asked  Mrs.  Martin,  as  her 
husband  drew  a  letter  from  his  pocket. 

"  This  is  an  invitation  from  Uncle  Frank 
for  all  of  us  to  come  out  to  his  ranch  in 
Montana  for  the  summer,"  was  the  answer. 
"We  have  been  talking  of  going,  you  know, 
and  now  is  a  good  chance.  I  can  leave  the 
store  for  a  while,  and  I  think  it  would  do  us 
all  good — the  children  especially — to  go 
West.  So  if  you'd  like  it,  well  pack  up 
and  go." 

"Go  where?"  asked  Ted,  driving  around 
near  the  veranda  in  time  to  hear  his  father's 
last  words. 

"Out  to  Uncle  Frank's  ranch,"  said  Mr. 
Martin. 

"How  would  you  like  that?"  added  his 
mother. 

"Could  we  have  ponies  to  ride?"  asked 
Ted. 

"Yes,  I  think  so." 

"Oh,  what  fun!"  cried  Janet.  "I  love  a 
pony!" 

"You'd  be  afraid  of  them!"  exclaimed 
Ted. 

"I  would  not!  If  they  didn't  jump  up 
and  down  the  way  you  did  with  Trouble  on 
your  back,  I  wouldn't  be  afraid." 


24     The  Curlytops  at  Uncle  Frank's  Ranch 

"Pooh!  that's  the  way  bucking  broncos 
always  do,  don't  they,  Daddy?  I'm  going 
to  have  a  bronco!" 

"Well,  well  see  when  we  get  there,"  said 
Daddy  Martin.  "But  since  you  all  seem  to 
like  it,  we'll  go  out  West." 

"Can  we  take  Mcknack?"  asked  Teddy. 

"You  won't  need  him  if  you  have  a 
pony,"  his  father  suggested. 

1  i  No,  that 's  so.  Hurray !  What  fun  we  '11 
have!" 

"Are  there  any  Indians  out  there  V  asked 
Janet. 

"Well,  a  few,  I  guess,"  her  father  an- 
swered. "But  they're  docile  Indians— not 
wild.  They  won 't  hurt  you.  Now  let 's  go  in 
and  talk  about  it." 

The  Curlytops  asked  all  sorts  of  questions 
of  their  father  about  Uncle  Frank's  ranch, 
but  though  he  could  tell  them,  in  a  general 
way,  what  it  looked  like,  Mr.  Martin  did  not 
really  know  much  about  the  place,  as  he  had 
never  been  there. 

"But  you'll  find  lots  of  horses,  ponies  and 
cattle  there,"  he  said. 

"And  can  we  take  Nicknack  with  us,  to 
ride  around  the  ranch?"  asked  Jan,  in  her 
turn. 


Nicknack  and  Trouble  25 

"Oh,  you  won't  want  to  do  that,"  her  fa- 
ther said.  "  You  '11  have  ponies  to  ride,  I 
think." 

"What'll  we  do  with  Nicknack  then?" 
asked  Ted. 

"We'll  have  to  leave  him  with  some 
neighbor  until  we  come  back,"  answered  his 
father.  "I  was  thinking  of  asking  Mr. 
Newton  to  take  care  of  him.  Bob  Newton  is 
a  kind  boy  and  he  wouldn't  harm  your 
goat." 

"Yes,  Bob  is  a  good  boy,"  agreed  Teddy. 
"I'd  like  him  to  have  Nicknack." 

"Then,  if  it  is  all  right  with  Mr.  Newton, 
we'll  take  the  goat  over  a  few  days  before 
we  leave  for  the  West,"  said  Mr.  Martin. 
"Bob  will  have  a  chance  to  get  used  to  Nick- 
nack,  and  Nicknack  to  him,  before  we  go 
away." 

"Nicknack  not  come  wif  us?"  asked 
Trouble,  not  quite  understanding  what  the 
talk  was  about. 

"No,  we'll  leave  Nicknack  here,"  said  his 
father,  as  he  cuddled  the  little  fellow  up  in 
his  lap.  Trouble  said  nothing  more  just 
then  but,  afterward,  Ted  remembered  that 
Baby  William  seemed  to  be  thinking  pretty 
hard  about  something. 


26     The  Curlytops  at  Uncle  Frank's  Ranch 

A  few  days  later,  when  some  of  the  trunks 
had  been  partly  packed,  ready  for  the  trip 
West,  Mr.  Martin  came  home  early  from  the 
store  and  said  to  Jan  and  Ted : 

"I  think  you'd  better  get  your  goat  ready 
now  and  take  him  over  to  Bob's  house.  I 
spoke  to  Mr.  Newton  about  it,  and  he  said 
there  was  plenty  of  room  in  his  stable  for  a 
goat.  Bob  is  delighted  to  have  him." 

"But  he'll  give  him  back  to  us  when  we 
come  home,  won't  he?"  asked  Janet. 

"Oh,  yes,  of  course  I  You  won't  lose  your 
goat,"  said  her  father  with  a  laugh. 

But  when  they  went  out  to  the  stable  to 
harness  Nicknack  to  the  wagon,  Ted  and 
Janet  rubbed  their  eyes  and  looked  again. 

"Why,  Nicknack  is  gone!"  exclaimed 
Ted. 

"He  is,"  agreed  his  sister.  "Maybe  Bob 
came  and  got  him." 

"No,  he  wouldn't  do  that  without  telling 
us,"  went  on  Ted.  "I  wonder  where  that 
goat  is?" 

He  looked  around  the  stable  yard  and  in 
the  barn.  No  Nicknack  was  in  sight. 

When  the  Curlytops  were  searching  they 
heard  their  mother  calling  to  them  from  the 
house,  where  their  father  was  waiting  for 


Nicknack  and  Trouble  27 

them  to  come  up  with  Nicknack.  He  was 
going  over  to  Mr.  Newton's  with  them. 

"Ho,  Ted!  Janet!  Where  are  you?" 
called  Mrs.  Martin. 

"Out  here,  Mother!"  Teddy  answered. 

"Is  Trouble  there  with  you?" 

"Trouble?    No,  he  isn't  here!" 

"He  isn't!"  exclaimed  his  mother. 
"Where  in  the  world  can  he  be  ?  Nora  says 
she  saw  him  going  out  to  the  barn  a  little 
while  ago.  Please  find  him!" 

"Huh!"  exclaimed  Ted.  "Trouble  is  gone 
and  so  is  Nicknack!  I  s'pose  they've  gone 
together!" 

"Well  have  to  look,"  said  Janet. 


CHAPTER  III 

OFF  FOR  THE  WEST 

THE  Curlytops  hurried  toward  the  house, 
leaving  open  the  empty  little  stable  in  which 
Nicknack  was  usually  kept.  They  found 
their  father  and  their  mother  looking 
around  in  the  yard.  Mrs.  Martin  had  a  wor- 
rie<l  air. 

"Couldn't  you  find  him1?"  asked  I  addy 
Martin. 

"We  didn't  look — very  much,"  answered 
Teddy.  "Nicknack  is  gone,  and " 

* i  Nicknack  gone ! ' '  cried  Mrs.  Martin.  ' '  I 
wonder  if  that  little  tyke  of  ours  has  gotten 
into  trouble  with  him." 

"Nicknack  wouldn't  make  any  trouble," 
declared  Jan.  "He's  such  a  nice  goat " 

"Yes,  I  know!"  said  Mrs.  Martin  quickly. 
"But  it  looks  very  much  as  though  Trouble 
and  Nicknack  had  gone  off  together.  Is  the 
goat's  harness  in  the  stable?" 


Off  for  the  West 29 

"We  didn't  look,"  answered  Teddy. 

"The  wagon's  gone,"  Janet  said.  "I 
looked  under  the  shed  for  that  and  it  wasn't 
there." 

"Then  I  can  just  about  guess  what  has 
happened,"  said  Daddy  Martin.  "Trouble 
heard  us  talking  about  taking  Nicknack 
over  to  Mr.  Newton's  house,  where  he  would 
be  kept  while  we  are  at  Uncle  Frank's 
ranch,  and  the  little  fellow  has  just  about 
taken  the  goat  over  himself." 

"Nonsense!"  exclaimed  Mrs.  Martin. 
"Trouble  couldn't  hitch  the  goat  to  the 
wagon  and  drive  off.  with  him." 

"Oh,  yes  he  could,  Mother!"  said  Teddy. 
"He's  seen  me  and  Janet  hitch  Nicknack  up 
lots  of  times,  and  he's  helped,  too.  At  first 
he  got  the  straps  all  crooked,  but  I  showed 
him  how  to  do  it,  and  I  guess  he  could  'most 
hitch  the  goat  up  himself  now  all  alone." 

"Then  that's  what  he's  done,"  said  Mr. 
Martin.  "Come  on,  Curlytops,  we'll  go 
over  to  Mr.  Newton's  and  get  Trouble." 

"I  hope  you  find  him  all  right,"  said  Mrs. 
Martin,  with  a  sigh. 

"Oh,  we'll  find  him  all  right— don't 
worry,"  her  husband  answered. 

Laughing  among  themselves  at  the  trick 


30    The  Curlytops  at  Uncle  Frank's  Ranch 

Trouble  had  played,  Janet,  Teddy  and  Mr. 
Martin  started  for  the  home  of  Mr.  Newton, 
which  was  three  or  four  long  streets  away, 
toward  the  edge  of  the  town. 

On  the  way  they  looked  here  and  there, 
in  the  yards  of  houses  where  the  children 
often  went  to  play. 

"For,"  said  Mr.  Martin,  "it  might  be  pos- 
sible that  when  Trouble  found  He  could  drive 
Nicknack,  which  he  could  do,  as  the  goat  is 
very  gentle,  he  might  have  stopped  on  the 
way  to  play." 

"Yes,  he  might/'  said  Jan.  "He's  so 
cute!" 

But  there  was  no  sign  of  the  little  boy, 
nor  the  goat,  either. 

Finally  Mr.  Newton's  house  was  reached. 
Into  the  yard  rushed  Janet  and  Teddy,  fol- 
lowed by  their  father.  Bob  Newton  was 
making  a  kite  on  the  side  porch. 

"Hello,  Curlytop!"  he  called  to  Ted. 
"Want  to  help  me  fly  this ?  It's  going  to  be 
a  dandy!" 

"Yes,  I'll  help  you,"  agreed  Ted.  "But 
is  he  here?" 

"Who  here?"  asked  Bob,  in  some  sur- 
prise. 

"Nicknack,  our  goat,"  answered  Teddy. 


Off  for  the  West 31 

"Whatl  Is  he  lost?"  exclaimed  Bob  in 
some  dismay,  for  he  was  counting  on  having 
much  fun  with  the  goat  when  the  Curlytops 
went  West. 

"Nicknack "  began  Ted. 

"Have  you  seen  Trouble?"  broke  in 
Janet. 

"Is  he  lost,  too ?"  Bob  inquired.  "Say,  I 
guess " 

"Our  goat  and  little  boy  seem  to  have. 
gone  off  together,"  explained  Mr.  Martin 
to  Mrs.  Newton  who  came  out  on  the  porch 
j  ust  then.  '  i  We  'd  been  talking  before  Trou- 
ble about  bringing  Nicknack  over  here,  and 
now  that  both  are  missing  we  thought  maybe 
Baby  William  had  brought  the  goat  over 
himself." 

"Why,  no,  he  isn't  here,"  said  Mrs.  New- 
ton slowly.  "You  didn't  see  anything  of 
Trouble  and  the  goat,  did  you?"  she  asked 
her  son. 

"No.  I've  been  here  making  the  kite  all 
morning,  and  I'd  have  seen  Nicknack  all 
right,  and  Trouble,  too,  if  they  had  come 
here." 

"Well,  that's  funny!"  exclaimed  Mr. 
Martin.  "I  wonder  where  he  can  have 
gone?" 


32     The  Curlytops  at  Uncle  Frank's  Ranch 

"Maybe  Nicknack  ran  away  with  him," 
suggested  Bob. 

"Oh,  don't  say  such  things!"  exclaimed 
his  mother. 

"I  don't  think  that  can  have  happened," 
returned  Mr.  Martin.  "Nieknack  is  a  very 
gentle  goat,  and  Trouble  is  used  to  playing 
with  him  all  alone.  He  never  yet  has  been 
hurt.  Of  course  we  are  not  sure  that  the 
two  went  away  together.  Trouble  disap- 
peared from  the  house,  and  he  was  last  seen 
going  toward  the  stable. 

"When  Ted  and  Jan  went  out  to  get  Nick- 
nack  he  was  gone,  too,  and  so  was  the  wagon 
and  harness.  So  we  just  thought  Trouble 
might  have  driven  his  pet  over  here." 

"Yes,  I  think  it  likely  that  the  two  went 
away  together,"  said  Mrs.  Newton;  "but 
they're  not  here.  Bob,  put  away  that  kite  of 
yours  and  help  Mr.  Martin  and  the  Curly- 
tops  look  for  Trouble.  He  may  have  gone 
to  Mrs.  Simpson's,"  she  went  on.  "He's 
often  there  you  know." 

"Yes,  but  we  looked  in  their  yard  coming 
over, ' '  put  in  Ted.  ' '  Trouble  wasn  't  there. ' ' 

"That's  strange,"  murmured  Bob's 
mother.  "Well,  he  can't  be  far,  that's  sure, 
and  he  can't  get  lost.  Everybody  in  town 


Off  for  the  West 33 

knows  him  and  the  goat,  and  he's  sure  to  be 
seen  sooner  or  later. " 

"I  guess  so,"  agreed  Mr.  Martin.  "His 
mother  was  a  little  worried,  though." 

"Yes,  I  should  think  she  would  be.  It's 
horrible  to  have  anything  happen  to  your 
children — or  fear  it  may.  I'll  take  off  my 
apron  and  help  you  look." 

"Oh,  don't  bother,"  said  Mr.  Martin. 
"We'll  find  him  all  right."  But  Mrs.  New- 
ton insisted  on  joining  the  search. 

There  was  a  barn  on  the  Newton  place — 
a  barn  in  which  Bob  was  counting  on  keep- 
ing Nicknack — and  this  place  was  first 
searched  lest,  perchance,  Trouble  might 
have  slipped  in  there  with  the  goat  without 
anyone  having  seen  him,  having  come  up 
through  a  back  alley. 

But  there  was  no  goat  inside;  and  Bob, 
the  Curlytops,  Mr.  Martin  and  Mrs.  Newton 
came  out  again,  and  looked  up  and  down  the 
street. 

"I'll  tell  you  what  we'd  better  do,"  said 
Bob's  mother.  "Ted,  you  come  with  Bob 
and  me.  You  know  Trouble's  ways,  and 
where  he  would  be  most  likely  to  go.  Let 
Janet  go  with  her  father,  and  we'll  go  up 
and  down  the  street,  inquiring  in  all  the 


34     The  Curlytops  at  Uncle  Frank's  Ranch 

houses  we  come  to.  Your  little  brother  is 
sure  to  be  near  one  of  them. " 

"That's  a  good  idea,"  said  Mr.  Martin. 
"Jan,  you  come  with  me.  I  expect  your 
mother  will  be  along  any  minute  now.  She 
won't  wait  at  home  long  for  us  if  we  don't 
come  back  with  Trouble." 

So  the  two  parties  started  on  the  search, 
one  up  and  the  other  down  the  street.  Bob, 
Teddy  and  Mrs.  Newton  inquired  at  a  num- 
ber of  houses,  but  no  one  in  them  had  seen 
Trouble  and  Nicknack  that  day.  Nor  did 
Janet  and  her  father  get  any  trace  of  the 
missing  ones. 

"I  wonder  where  he  is,"  murmured 
Teddy,  and  he  was  beginning  to  feel  afraid 
that  something  had  happened  to  Trouble. 

"Let's  go  down  the  back  street,"  sug- 
gested Bob.  "You  know  there's  quite  a  lot 
of  wagons  and  automobiles  go  along  this 
main  street  where  we've  been  looking. 
Maybe  if  Trouble  hitched  up  Nicknack  and 
went  for  a  ride  he'd  turn  down  the  back 
street  'cause  it's  quieter." 

"Yes,  he  may  have  done  that,"  agreed 
Mrs.  Newton. 

So  down  the  back  street  the  three  went. 
There  were  several  vacant  lots  on  this  street 


Off  for  the  West 35 

and  as  the  grass  in  them  was  high — tall 
enough  to  hide  a  small  boy  and  a  goat  and 
wagon — Bob  said  they  had  better  look  in 
these  places. 

This  they  did.  There  was  nothing  in  the 
first  two  vacant  lots,  but  in  the  third — after 
they  had  stopped  at  one  or  two  houses  and 
had  not  found  the  missing  ones — Teddy  sud- 
denly cried  out : 

"Hark!" 

"What'd  you  hear?"  asked  Bob. 

"I  thought  I  heard  a  goat  bleating,"  was 
the  answer. 

"Listen!"  whispered  Mrs.  Newton. 

They  kept  quiet,  and  then  through  the  air 
came  the  sound : 

"Baa-a-a-a-a!" 

"That's  Mcknack!"  cried  Teddy,  rushing 
forward. 

"I  hope  your  little  brother  is  there,  too," 
said  Mrs.  Newton. 

And  Trouble  was.  When  they  got  to  the 
lower  end  of  the  vacant  lot  there,  in  a  tangle 
of  weeds,  was  the  goat-wagon,  and  Nick- 
nack  was  in  a  tangle  of  harness  fast  to  it. 

"Look  at  Trouble!"  cried  Teddy. 

There  lay  the  little  fellow,  sound  asleep  in 
the  goat-wagon,  his  head  pillowed  on  his 


36     The  Curlytops  at  Uncle  Frank's  Ranch 

arm,  while  Mcknack  was  bleating  now  and 
then  between  the  bites  of  grass  and  weeds 
he  was  eating. 

"Oh,  Trouble!"  cried  Mrs.  Newton  as  she 
took  him  up  in  her  arms. 

"Yes — dis  me — I's  Trouble,"  was  the 
sleepy  response.  "Oh,  'lo,  Teddy,"  he  went 
on  as  he  saw  his  brother.  "  'Lo,  Bob.  You 
come  to  find  me?" 

"I  should  say  we  did!"  cried  Bob.  "What 
are  you  doing  here?" 

' l  Havin '  wide, ' '  was  the  answer.  ' '  Every- 
body go  'way — out  West — I  not  have  a  goat 
den.  I  no  want  Nicknack  to  go  'way." 

"Oh,  I  see  what  he  means!"  exclaimed 
Teddy,  after  thinking  over  what  his  little 
brother  said.  "He  heard  us  talking  about 
bringing  Mcknack  over  to  your  house,  Bob, 
to  keep  him  for  us.  Trouble  likes  the  goat 
and  I  guess  he  didn't  want  to  leave  him  be- 
hind. Maybe  he  thought  he  could  drive  him 
away  out  to  Montana,  to  Uncle  Frank's 
ranch." 

"Maybe,"  agreed  Bob.  "That'd  be  a  long 
drive,  though." 

"I  should  say  so!"  agreed  Mrs.  Newton. 
"But  I  guess  you're  right,  Teddy.  Your 
little  brother  started  off  to  hide  the  goat  and 


Off  for  the  West 37 

wagon  so  you  couldn't  leave  it  behind.  He's 
a  funny  baby,  all  right!" 

"And  look  how  he  harnessed  him!"  ex- 
claimed Bob. 

Mcknack  really  wasn't  harnessed.  The 
leather  straps  and  the  buckles  were  all  tan- 
gled up  on  him,  but  Trouble  had  managed 
to  make  enough  of  them  stick  on  the  goat's 
back,  and  had  somehow  got  part  of  the  har- 
ness fast  to  the  wagon,  so  Mcknack  could 
pull  it  along. 

"I  had  a  nice  wide,"  said  Trouble,  as 
Bob  and  Teddy  straightened  out  the  goat's 
harness.  "Den  I  got  s'eepy  an'  Mcknack 
he  got  hungry,  so  we  corned  in  here." 

"And  we've  been  looking  everywhere  for 
you ! ' '  exclaimed  Mrs.  Newton.  * '  Well,  I  'm 
glad  we've  found  you.  Come  along,  now. 
Ted,  you  and  Bob  hurry  along  and  tell  the 
others.  Your  mother '11  be  worried." 

And  indeed  Mrs.  Martin  was  worried,  es- 
pecially when  she  met  Mr.  Martin  and 
Janet,  who  had  not  found  Trouble. 

But  Teddy  and  Bob  soon  met  with  the 
other  searchers  and  told  them  that  Baby 
William  had  been  found. 

"Oh,  what  will  you  do  next?"  cried  Mrs. 
Martin,  as  she  clasped  the  little  fellow  in 


38     The  Curlytops  at  Uncle  Frank's  Ranch 

her  arms.  "Such  a  fright  as  you've  given 
us!" 

"No  want  Mckback  to  go  'way!"  said 
Trouble. 

"I  guess  that's  what  he  did  it  for — he 
thought  he  could  hide  the  goat  so  we 
wouldn't  leave  him  behind,"  said  Daddy 
Martin.  "But  we'll  have  to,  just  the  same. 
Trouble  won't  miss  him  when  we  get  out  on 
the  ranch." 

So  the  goat  and  wagon  were  left  at  Bob's 
house,  and  though  Trouble  cried  when  he 
realized  what  was  happening,  he  soon  got 
over  it. 

The  next  few  days  were  filled  with  busy 
preparations  toward  going  West.  Daddy 
Martin  bought  the  tickets,  the  packing  was 
completed,  last  visits  to  their  playmates 
were  paid  by  Janet  and  Teddy,  whose  boy 
and  girl  friends  all  said  that  they  wished 
they  too  were  going  out  West  to  a  big  ranch. 

"We're  going  to  see  cowboys  and  In- 
dians!" Ted  told  everyone. 

Then  came  the  last  day  in  Cresco — that  is 
the  last  day  for  some  time  for  the  Curlytops. 
The  house  was  closed,  Nora  going  to  stay 
with  friends.  Skyrocket,  the  dog,  and  Turn- 
over, the  cat,  were  sent  to  kind  neighbors, 


Off  for  the  West 39 

who  promised  to  look  after  them.  Bob  had 
already  started  to  take  care  of  Nicknack. 

"All  aboard!"  called  the  conductor  of  the 
train  the  Curlytops  and  the  others  took. 
" All  aboard!" 

"All  aboard  for  the  West !"  echoed  Daddy 
Martin,  and  they  were  off. 


CHAPTER  IV 

THE  COLLISION 

'T  we  have  fun,  Jan,  when  we  get  to 
the  ranch  ?" 

"I  guess  so,  Teddy.  But  I  don't  like  it 
about  those  Indians." 

"Oh,  didn't  you  hear  Daddy  say  they 
were  tame  ones — like  the  kind  in  the  circus 
and  Wild  West  show?  They  won't  hurt 
you,  Jan." 

"Well,  I  don't  like  'em.  They've  got  such 
funny  painted  faces." 

"Not  the  tame  ones,  Jan.  Anyhow  I'll 
stay  with  you." 

The  Curlytops  were  talking  as  they  sat  to- 
gether in  the  railroad  car  which  was  being 
pulled  rapidly  by  the  engine  out  toward  the 
big  West,  where  Uncle  Frank's  ranch  was. 
In  the  seat  behind  them  was  Mother  Martin, 
holding  Trouble,  who  was  asleep,  while 

Daddy  Martin  was  also  slumbering. 

40 


The  Collision  41 


It  was  quite  a  long  ride  from  Cresco  to 
Rockville,  which  was  in  Montana.  It  would 
take  the  Curlytops  about  four  days  to  make 
the  trip,  perhaps  longer  if  the  trains  were 
late.  But  they  did  not  mind,  for  they  had 
comfortable  coaches  in  which  to  travel. 
When  they  were  hungry  there  was  the  din- 
ing-car where  they  could  get  something  to 
eat,  and  when  they  were  sleepy  there  was 
the  sleeping-car,  in  which  the  colored  porter 
made  such  funny  little  beds  out  of  the  seats. 

Jan  and  Ted  thought  it  quite  wonderful. 
For,  though  they  had  traveled  in  a  sleeping- 
car  before,  and  had  seen  the  porter  pull  out 
the  seats,  let  down  the  shelf  overhead  and 
take  out  the  blankets  and  pillows  to  make 
the  bed,  still  they  never  tired  of  watching. 

There  were  many  other  things  to  interest 
the  Curlytops  and  Trouble  on  this  journey 
to  Uncle  Frank's  ranch.  Of  course  there 
was  always  something  to  see  when  they 
looked  out  of  the  windows  of  the  cars.  At 
times  the  train  would  pass  through  cities, 
stopping  at  the  stations  to  let  passengers  get 
off  and  on.  But  it  was  not  the  cities  that  in- 
terested the  children  most.  They  liked  best 
to  see  the  fields  and  woods  through  which 
they  passed. 


42     The  Curlytops  at  Uncle  Frank's  Ranch 

In  some  of  the  fields  were  horses,  cows  or 
sheep,  and  while  the  children  did  not  see  any 
such  animals  in  the  woods,  except  perhaps 
where  the  wood  was  a  clump  of  trees  near 
a  farm,  they  always  hoped  they  might. 

Very  often,  when  the  train  would  rattle 
along  through  big  fields,  and  then  suddenly 
plunge  into  a  forest,  Jan  would  call : 

11  Maybe  we'll  see  one  now,  Ted!" 

"Oh,  maybe  so !"  he  would  exclaim. 

Then  the  two  Curlytops  would  flatten  their 
noses  against  the  window  and  peer  out. 

"What  are  you  looking  for?"  asked 
Mother  Martin,  the  first  time  she  saw  the 
children  do  this. 

"Indians,"  answered  Teddy,  never  turn- 
ing around,  for  the  train  was  still  in  the 
wood  and  he  did  not  want  to  miss  any 
chance. 

1 '  Indians ! ' '  exclaimed  his  mother.  ' i  Why, 
what  in  the  world  put  into  your  head  the  idea 
that  we  should  see  Indians?" 

"Well,  Uncle  Frank  said  there  were  In- 
dians out  West,  even  if  they  weren't  wild 
ones,"  answered  Teddy,  "and  me  and  Jan 
wants  to  see  some." 

"Oh,  you  won't  find  any  Indians  around 
here/'  said  Daddy  Martin  with  a  laugh,  as 


The  Collision  43 


he  laid  aside  the  paper  he  was  reading.  "It 
is  true  there  are  some  out  West,  but  we  are 
not  there  yet,  and,  if  we  were,  you  would 
hardly  find  the  Indians  so  near  a  railroad." 

"Can't  we  ever  see  any?"  Jan  wanted  to 
know.  "I  don't  just  like  Indians,  'cause 
they've  always  got  a  gun  or  a  knife — I  mean 
in  pictures,"  she  hastened  to  add.  "Course 
I  never  saw  a  real  Indian,  'ceptin'  maybe  in 
a  circus." 

"You'll  see  some  real  ones  after  a  while," 
her  mother  told  her,  and  then  the  children 
stopped  pressing  their  noses  flat  against  the 
car  windows,  for  the  train  had  come  out  of 
the  wood  and  was  nearing  a  large  city. 
There,  Jan  and  Ted  felt  sure,  no  Indians 
would  be  seen. 

"But  we'll  keep  watch,"  said  Jan  to  her 
brother,  "and  maybe  I'll  see  an  Indian 
first." 

"And  maybe  I  will  1  We'll  both  watch !" 
he  agreed. 

Something  else  that  gave  the  children  en- 
joyment was  the  passage  through  the  train, 
every  now  and  then,  of  the  boy  who  sold 
candy,  books  and  magazines.  He  would  pass 
along  between  the  seats,  dropping  into  them, 
or  into  the  laps  of  the  passengers,  packages 


44     The  Curlytops  at  Uncle  Frank's  Ranch 

of  candy,  or  perhaps  a  paper  or  book.  This 
was  to  give  the  traveler  time  to  look  at  it, 
and  make  up  his  or  her  mind  whether  or  not 
to  buy  it. 

A  little  later  the  boy  would  come  along  to 
collect  the  things  he  had  left,  and  get  the 
money  for  those  the  people  kept  for  them- 
selves. Ted  and  Jan  were  very  desirous, 
each  time,  that  the  boy  should  sell  some- 
thing, and  once,  when  he  had  gone  through 
the  car  and  had  taken  in  no  money,  he  looked 
so  disappointed  that  Jan  whispered  to  her 
father : 

" Won't  you  please  buy  something  from 
him?" 

"Buy  what?"  asked  Mr.  Martin. 

"A  book  or  some  candy  from  the  news- 
boy," repeated  the  little  girl.  "He  looks 
awful  sorry." 

"Hum!  Well,  it  is  too  bad  if  he  didn't 
sell  anything,"  said  Mr.  Martin.  "I  guess 
I  can  buy  something.  What  would  you  like, 
something  to  read  or  something  to  eat?" 

"Some  pictures  to  look  at,"  suggested 
Teddy.  "Then  we  can  show  'em  to  Trouble. 
Mother  just  gave  us  some  cookies." 

"Then  I  guess  you've  had  enough  to  eat," 
laughed  Mr.  Martin.  "Here,  boyl"  he 


The  Collision  45 


called.  "Have  you  any  picture  books  for 
these  Curlytops  of  mine?" 

"Yes,  I  have  some  nice  ones,"  answered 
the  boy,  and  with  a  smile  on  his  face  he  went 
into  the  baggage  car,  where  he  kept  his  pa- 
pers, candy  and  other  things,  and  soon  came 
back  with  a  gaily  colored  book,  at  the  sight 
of  which  Ted  and  Jan  uttered  sighs  of  de- 
light. 

"Dat  awful  p'etty!"  murmured  Trouble, 
and  indeed  the  book  did  have  nice  pictures 
in  it. 

Mr.  Martin  paid  for  it,  and  then  Ted  and 
Jan  enjoyed  very  much  looking  at  it,  with 
Trouble  in  the  seat  between  them.  He  in- 
sisted on  seeing  each  picture  twice,  the  page 
being  no  sooner  turned  over  than  he  wanted 
it  turned  back  again. 

But  at  last  even  he  was  satisfied,  and  then 
Ted  and  Jan  went  back  to  their  first  game 
of  looking  out  of  the  window  for  Indians  or 
other  sights  that  might  interest  them. 

Trouble  slipped  out  of  his  seat  between  his 
brother  and  sister  and  went  to  a  vacant  win- 
dow himself.  For  a  time  he  had  good  fun 
playing  with  the  window  catch,  and  Mrs. 
Martin  let  him  do  this,  having  made  sure,  at 
first,  that  he  could  not  open  the  sash.  Then 


46    The  Curlytops  at  Uncle  Frank's  Ranch 

they  all  forgot  Trouble  for  a  while  and  he 
played  by  himself,  all  alone  in  one  of  the 
seats. 

A  little  later,  when  Teddy  and  Janet  were 
tired  of  looking  for  the  Indians  which  they 
never  saw,  they  were  talking  about  the  good 
times  they  had  had  with  Nicknack,  and  won- 
dering if  Uncle  Frank  would  have  a  goat,  or 
anything  like  it,  when  Trouble  came  tod- 
dling up  to  their  seat. 

"What  you  got  ?"  asked  Teddy  of  his  little 
brother,  noticing  that  Baby  William  was 
chewing  something.  "What  you  got,  Trou- 
ble?" 

"Tandy,"  he  said,  meaning  candy,  of 
course. 

"Oh,  where 'd  you  get  it?"  chimed  in  Jan. 

"Nice  boy  gived  it  to  me,"  Trouble  an- 
swered. "Here,"  and  he  held  the  package 
out  to  his  brother  and  sister. 

"Oh,  wasn't  that  good  of  him!"  exclaimed 
Jan.  "It's  nice  chocolate  candy,  too.  I'll 
have  another  piece,  Trouble." 

They  all  had  some  and  they  were  eating 
the  sweet  stuff  and  having  a  good  time,  when 
they  saw  their  father  looking  at  them. 
There  was  a  funny  smile  on  his  face,  and 
near  him  stood  the  newsboy,  also  smiling. 


The  Collision  47 


"Trouble,  did  you  open  a  box  of  candy  the 
boy  left  in  your  seat?"  asked  Mr.  Martin. 

"Yes,  he's  got  some  candy,"  answered 
Jan.  "He  said  the  boy  gave  it  to  him." 

"I  didn't  mean  for  him  to  open  it,"  the 
boy  said.  "I  left  it  in  his  seat  and  I  thought 
he'd  ask  his  father  if  he  could  have  it.  But 
when  I  came  to  get  it,  why,  it  was  gone." 

"Oh,  what  a  funny  little  Trouble!" 
laughed  Mother  Martin.  "He  thought  the 
boy  meant  to  give  the  candy  to  him,  I  guess. 
Well,  Daddy,  I  think  you'll  have  to  pay  for 
it." 

And  so  Mr.  Martin  did.  The  candy  was 
not  a  gift  after  all,  but  Trouble  did  not  know 
that.  However,  it  all  came  out  right  in  the 
end. 

They  had  been  traveling  two  days,  and 
now,  toward  evening  of  the  second  day,  the 
Curlytops  were  talking  together  about  what 
they  would  do  when  they  got  to  Uncle 
Frank's  ranch. 

"I  hope  they  have  lots  to  eat  there," 
sighed  Ted,  when  he  and  Jan  had  gotten  off 
the  subject  of  Indians.  "I'm  hungry  right 


now.': 


"So'm  I,"  added  his  sister.    "But  they'll 
call  us  to  supper  pretty  soon." 


48    The  Curlytops  at  Uncle  Frank's  Ranch 

The  children  always  eagerly  waited  for 
the  colored  waiter  to  come  through  the 
coaches  rumbling  out  in  his  bass  voice : 

"First  call  fo'  supper  in  de  dinin'-car!" 

Or  he  might  say  " dinner"  or  " break- 
fast," or  make  it  the  "last  call,"  just  as  it 
happened.  Now  it  was  time  for  the  first 
supper  call,  and  in  a  little  while  the  waiter 
came  in. 

"Eh?  What's  that?  Time  for  supper 
again?"  cried  Daddy  Martin,  awakening 
from  a  nap. 

Trouble  stretched  and  yawned  in  his 
mother's  arms. 

"I's  hungry!"  he  said. 

"So'm  I!"  cried  Ted  and  Jan  together. 

"Shall  we  have  good  things  to  eat  on 
Uncle  Frank's  ranch?"  asked  Teddy,  as 
they  made  ready  to  walk  ahead  to  the  din- 
ing-car. 

"Of  course  I "  his  mother  laughed.  * '  Why 
are  you  worrying  about  that?" 

"Oh,  I  just  wanted  to  know,"  Teddy  an- 
swered. "We  had  so  many  good  things  at 
Cherry  Farm  and  when  we  were  camping 
with  grandpa  that  I  want  some  out  on  the 
ranch." 

"Well,  I  think  we  can  trust  to  Uncle 


The  Collision  49 


Frank, "  said  Mr.  Martin.  "But  if  you  get 
too  hungry,  Teddy,  you  can  go  out  and  lasso 
a  beefsteak  or  catch  a  bear  or  deer  and  have 
him  for  breakfast." 

"Is  there  bears  out  there,  tooT'  asked 
Janet  in  a  good  deal  of  excitement.  "Bears 
and  Indians?" 

"Well,  there  may  be  a  few  bears  here  and 
there,"  her  father  said  with  a  smile,  "but 
they  won't  hurt  you  if  you  don't  hurt  them. 
Now  we'll  go  and  see  what  they  have  for 
supper  here." 

To  the  dining-car  they  went,  and  as  they 
passed  through  one  of  the  coaches  on  their 
way  Teddy  and  Janet  heard  a  woman  say  to 
her  little  girl : 

"Look  at  those  Curlytops,  Ethel.  Don't 
you  wish  you  could  have  some  of  their  curl 
put  into  your  hair  I" 

It  was  evening  and  the  sun  was  setting. 
As  the  train  sped  along  the  Curlytops  could 
look  through  the  windows  off  across  the 
fields  and  woods  through  which  they  passed. 

"Isn't  it  just  wonderful,"  said  Mother 
Martin,  "to  think  of  sitting  down  to  a  nice 
meal  which  is  being  cooked  for  us  while  the 
train  goes  so  fast  ?  Imagine,  children,  how, 
years  ago,  the  cowboys  and  hunters  had  to 


50     The  Curlytops  at  Uncle  Frank's  Ranch 

go  on  horses  all  the  distance  out  West,  and 
carry  their  food  on  their  pony's  back  or  in  a 
wagon  called  a  prairie  schooner.  How  much 
easier  and  quicker  and  more  comfortable  it 
is  to  travel  this  way." 

"I'd  like  to  ride  on  a  pony,"  said  Teddy. 
"I  wouldn't  care  how  slow  he  went." 

"I  imagine  you  wouldn't  like  it  when 
night  came,"  said  his  mother,  as  she  moved 
a  plate  so  the  waiter  could  set  glasses  of 
milk  in  front  of  the  children.  "You 
wouldn't  like  to  sleep  on  the  ground  with 
only  a  blanket  for  a  bed,  would  you?" 

"  'Deed  I  would!"  declared  Teddy.  "I 
wish  I  had " 

Just  then  the  train  went  around  a  curve, 
and,  as  it  was  traveling  very  fast,  the  milk 
which  Teddy  was  raising  to  his  mouth 
slopped  and  spilled  down  in  his  lap. 

"Oh,  Teddy!"  cried  his  mother. 

"I — I  couldn't  help  it!"  he  exclaimed,  as 
he  wiped  up  as  much  of  the  milk  as  he  could 
on  a  napkin  with  which  the  waiter  hastened 
to  him. 

"No,  we  know  it  was  the  train,"  said 
Daddy  Martin.  "It  wouldn't  have  hap- 
pened if  you  had  been  traveling  on  pony- 
back,  and  had  stopped  to  camp  out  for  the 


The  Collision  51 


night  before  you  got  your  supper ;  would  it, 
Ted?"  he  asked  with  a  smile. 

"No,"  said  the  little  boy.  "I  wish  we 
could  camp  out  and  hunt  Indians!" 

' '  Oh  my  goodness ! ' '  exclaimed  his  mother. 
"Don't  get  such  foolish  notions  in  your 
head.  Anyway  there  aren't  any  Indians  to 
hunt  on  Uncle  Frank's  ranch,  are  there, 
Dick?"  she  asked  her  husband. 

"Well,  no,  I  guess  not,"  he  answered 
slowly.  "There  are  some  Indians  on  their 
own  ranch,  or  government  reservation,  not 
far  from  where  Uncle  Frank  has  his  horses 
and  cattle,  but  I  guess  the  Redmen  never 
bother  anyone." 

"Can  we  go  to  see  'em?"  asked  Teddy. 

"I  guess  so,"  said  Mr.  Martin. 

"Me  go,  too!  Me  like  engines,"  mur- 
mured Trouble,  who  had  also  spilled  a  little 
milk  on  himself. 

"He  thinks  we're  talking  about  engines — 
the  kind  that  pull  this  train!"  laughed  Ted. 
"I  don't  believe  he  ever  saw  a  real  Indian." 

"No,  Indians  do  not  walk  the  streets  of 
Cresco,"  said  Mrs.  Martin.  "But  finish 
your  suppers,  children.  Others  are  waiting 
to  use  the  table  and  we  must  not  keep  them 
too  long." 


52     The  Curlytops  at  Uncle  Frank's  Ranch 

There  were  many  travelers  going  West — 
not  all  as  far  as  the  Curlytops  though — and 
as  there  was  not  room  in  the  dining-car  for 
all  of  them  to  sit  down  at  once  they  had  to 
take  turns.  That  is  why  the  waiter  made 
one,  two,  and  sometimes  three  calls  for  each 
meal,  as  he  went  through  the  different 
coaches. 

Supper  over,  the  Martins  went  back  to 
their  place  in  the  coach  in  which  they  had 
ridden  all  day.  They  would  soon  go  into 
the  beds,  or  berths,  as  they  are  called,  to 
sleep  all  night.  In  the  morning  they  would 
be  several  hundred  miles  nearer  Uncle 
Frank's  ranch. 

The  electric  lights  were  turned  on,  and 
then,  for  a  while,  Jan,  Ted  and  the  others 
sat  and  talked. 

They  talked  about  the  fun  they  had  had 
when  at  Cherry  Farm,  of  the  good  times 
camping  with  grandpa  and  how  they  were 
snowed  in,  when  they  wondered  what  had 
become  of  the  strange  lame  boy  who  had 
called  at  Mr.  Martin's  store  one  day. 

"I  wish  Hal  Chester  could  come  out  West 
with  us,"  said  Teddy,  as  the  porter  came  to 
tell  them  he  would  soon  make  up  their  beds. 
"He'd  like  to  hunt  Indians  with  me." 


The  Collision  53 


Hal  was  a  boy  who  had  been  cured  of 
lameness  at  a  Home  for  Crippled  Children, 
not  far  from  Cherry  Farm. 

"I  suppose  you'll  dream  of  Indians,"  said 
Teddy's  mother  to  him.  " You've  talked 
about  them  all  day.  But  get  ready  for  bed, 
now.  Traveling  is  tiresome  for  little  folks. ' ' 

Indeed  after  the  first  day  Ted  and  Janet 
found  it  so.  They  wished,  more  than  once, 
that  they  could  get  out  and  run  about,  but 
they  could  not  except  when  the  train  stopped 
longer  than  usual  in  some  big  city.  Then 
their  father  would  take  them  to  the  platform 
for  a  little  run  up  and  down. 

True  they  could  walk  up  and  down  the 
aisle  of  the  car,  but  this  was  not  much  fun, 
as  the  coach  swayed  so  they  were  tossed 
against  the  sides  of  the  seats  and  bruised. 

"I'll  be  glad  when  we  get  to  Uncle 
Frank's  ranch,"  said  Janet  as  she  crawled 
into  the  berth  above  her  mother,  who  slept 
with  Trouble. 

"So '11 1,"  agreed  Teddy,  who  climbed  up 
the  funny  little  ladder  to  go  to  bed  in  the 
berth  above  his  father.  "I  want  a  pony 
ride!" 

On  through  the  night  rumbled  and  roared 
the  train,  the  whistle  sounding  mournfully 


54     The  Curlytops  at  Uncle  Frank's  Ranch 

in  the  darkness  as  the  engineer  blew  it  at 
the  crossings. 

Ted  and  Janet  were  sleeping  soundly, 
Janet  dreaming  she  had  a  new  doll,  dressed 
like  an  Indian  papoose,  or  baby,  while  Ted 
dreamed  he  was  on  a  wild  pony  that  wanted 
to  roll  over  and  over  instead  of  galloping 
straight  on. 

Suddenly  there  was  a  loud  crash  that 
sounded  through  the  whole  train.  The 
engine  whistled  shrilly  and  then  came  a  jar 
that  shook  up  everyone.  Teddy  found  him- 
self rolling  out  of  his  berth  and  he  grabbed 
the  curtains  just  in  time  to  save  himself. 

"Oh,  Daddy!"  he  cried,  "what's  the 
matter?" 

"What  is  it?"  called  Jan  from  her  berth, 
while  women  in  the  coach  were  screaming 
and  men  \\  ere  calling  to  one  another. 

"What  is  it,  Dick?"  cried  Mrs.  Martin. 

"I  think  weVe  had  a  collision,"  answered 
her  husband. 

"Did  our  train  bunk  into  another  ?"  asked 
Ted. 

"I'm  afraid  so,"  replied  his  father. 


CHAPTER  V 

AT  RING  ROSY  RANCH 

THERE  was  so  much  noise  in  the  sleeping 
car  where  the  Curlytops  and  others  had  been 
peacefully  traveling  through  the  night,  that, 
at  first,  it  was  hard  to  tell  what  had  hap- 
pened. 

All  that  anyone  knew  was  that  there  had 
been  a  severe  jolt — a  "bunk"  Teddy  called 
it — and  that  the  train  had  come  to  a  sudden 
stop.  So  quickly  had  it  stopped,  in  fact, 
that  a  fat  man,  who  was  asleep  in  a  berth 
just  behind  Mr.  Martin,  had  tumbled  out 
and  now  sat  in  the  aisle  of  the  car,  gazing 
about  him,  a  queer  look  on  his  sleepy  face, 
for  he  was  not  yet  fully  awake. 

' '  I  say ! ' '  cried  the  fat  man.  * '  Who  pushed 
me  out  of  bed!" 

Even  though  they  were  much  frightened, 
Mrs.  Martin  and  some  of  the  other  men  and 
women  could  not  help  laughing  at  this.  And 

55 


56     The  Curlytops  at  Uncle  Frank's  Ranch 

the  laughter  did  more  to  quiet  them  than 
anything  else. 

"Well,  I  guess  no  one  here  is  much  hurt — 
if  at  all,"  said  Daddy  Martin,  as  he  put  on  a 
pair  of  soft  slippers  he  had  ready  in  the 
little  hammock  that  held  his  clothes  inside 
the  berth.  "I'll  go  and  see  if  I  can  find  out 
what  the  matter  is." 

"An',  Daddy,  bring  me  suffin  t'eat!"  ex- 
claimed Trouble,  poking  his  head  out  be- 
tween the  curtains  of  the  berth  where  he 
had  been  sleeping  with  his  mother  when  the 
collision  happened. 

"There's  one  boy  that's  got  sense,"  said  a 
tall  thin  man,  who  was  helping  the  fat  man 
to  get  to  his  feet.  "He  isn't  hurt,  anyhow." 

"Thank  goodness,  no,"  said  Mrs.  Martin, 
who,  as  had  some  of  the  other  women,  had 
on  a  dressing  gown.  Mrs.  Martin  was  look- 
ing at  Trouble,  whom  she  had  taken  up  in 
her  arms.  "He  hasn't  a  scratch  on  him," 
she  said,  "though  I  heard  him  slam  right 
against  the  side  of  the  car.  He  was  next  to 
the  window." 

"It's  a  mercy  we  weren't  all  of  us  tossed 
out  of  the  windows  when  the  train  stopped 
so  suddenly,  the  way  it  did,"  said  a  little  old 
woman. 


At  Ring  Rosy  Ranch  57 

"It's  a  mercy,  too,"  smiled  another 
woman  who  had  previously  made  friends 
with  Jan  and  Teddy,  "that  the  Curlytops 
did  not  come  hurtling  down  out  of  those 
upper  berths." 

Mr.  Martin,  after  making  sure  his  family 
was  all  right,  partly  dressed  and  went  out 
with  some  of  the  other  men.  The  train  had 
come  to  a  standstill,  and  Jan  and  Ted,  look- 
ing out  of  the  windows  of  their  berths,  could 
see  men  moving  about  in  the  darkness  out- 
side with  flaring  torches. 

"Maybe  it's  robbers,"  said  Teddy  in  a 
whisper. 

"Robbers  don't  stop  trains,"  objected 
Janet. 

"Yes  they  do !"  declared  her  brother  posi- 
tively. "Train  robbers  do.  Don't  they, 
Mother?" 

"Oh,  don't  talk  about  such  things  now, 
Teddy  boy.  Be  thankful  you  are  all  right 
and  hope  that  no  one  is  hurt  in  the  col- 
lision." 

"That's  what  I  say!"  exclaimed  the  fat 
man.  "So  it's  a  collision,  is  it?  I  dreamed 
we  were  in  a  storm  and  that  I  was  blown  out 
of  bed." 

"Well,  you  fell  out,  which  is  much  the 


58     The  Curly  tops  at  Uncle  Frank's  Ranch 

same  thing/'  said  the  thin  man.  "Our  car 
doesn't  seem  to  be  hurt,  anyhow." 

Ted  and  Janet  came  out  into  the  aisle  in 
their  pajamas.  They  looked  all  about  them 
but,  aside  from  seeing  a  number  of  men  and 
women  who  were  greatly  excited,  nothing 
else  appeared  to  be  the  matter.  Then  in 
came  their  father  with  some  of  the  other 
men. 

"It  isn't  a  bad  collision,"  said  Daddy 
Martin.  "Our  engine  hit  a  freight  car  that 
was  on  a  side  track,  but  too  close  to  our  rails 
to  be  passed  safely.  It  jarred  up  our  engine 
and  the  front  cars  quite  a  bit,  and  our  engine 
is  off  the  track,  but  no  one  is  hurt." 

"That's  good!"  exclaimed  Mrs.  Martin. 
"I  mean  that  no  one  is  hurt." 

"How  are  they  going  to  get  the  engine 
back  on  the  track?"  Teddy  wanted  to  know. 
"Can't  I  go  out  and  watch  'em?" 

"I  want  to  go,  too!"  exclaimed  Janet. 

"Indeed  you  can't — in  the  dark!"  ex- 
claimed her  father.  "Besides,  the  railroad 
men  don't  want  you  in  the  way.  They  asked 
us  all  to  go  to  our  coaches  and  wait.  They'll 
soon  have  the  engine  back  on  the  rails  they 
said." 

Everyone  was  awake  now,  and  several 


At  Ring  Rosy  Ranch  59 

children  in  the  car,  like  Trouble,  were  hun- 
gry. The  porter  who  had  been  hurrying  to 
and  fro  said  he  could  get  the  children  some 
hot  milk  from  the  dining-car,  and  this  he 
did. 

Some  of  the  grown  folks  wanted  coffee 
and  sandwiches,  and  these  having  been 
brought  in,  there  was  quite  a  merry  picnic 
in  the  coach,  even  if  the  train  had  been  in  a 
collision. 

Then  there  was  much  puffing  and  whis- 
tling of  the  engine.  The  Curlytops,  looking 
out  of  the  window  again,  saw  more  men 
hurrying  here  and  there  with  flaring  torches 
which  flickered  and  smoked.  These  were 
the  trainmen  helping  to  get  the  engine  back 
on  the  rails,  which  they  did  by  using  iron 
wedges  or  "jumpers,"  much  as  a  trolley  car 
in  your  city  streets  is  put  back  on  the  rails 
once  it  slips  off. 

At  last  there  was  another  "bunk"  to  the 
train,  as  Teddy  called  it.  At  this  several 
women  screamed. 

"It's  all  right,"  said  Daddy  Martin. 
"They've  got  the  engine  back  on  the  rails 
and  it  has  just  backed  up  to  couple  on,  or 
fasten  itself,  to  the  cars  again.  Now  we'll 
go  forward  again." 


60     The  Curlytops  at  Uncle  Frank's  Ranch 

And  they  did — in  a  little  while.  It  did  not 
take  the  Curlytops  or  Trouble  long  to  fall 
asleep  once  more,  but  some  of  the  older  peo- 
ple were  kept  awake  until  morning,  they 
said  afterward.  They  were  afraid  of  an- 
other collision. 

But  none  came,  and  though  the  train  was 
a  little  late  the  accident  really  did  not 
amount  to  much,  though  it  might  have  been 
a  bad  one  had  the  freight  car  been  a  little 
farther  over  on  the  track  so  the  engine  had 
run  squarely  into  it. 

All  the  next  day  and  night  the  Curlytops 
traveled  in  the  train,  and  though  Jan  and 
Ted  liked  to  look  out  of  the  windows,  they 
grew  tired  of  this  after  a  while  and  began 
to  ask: 

"When  shall  we  be  at  Uncle  Frank's 
ranch?" 

"Pretty  soon  now,"  said  their  father. 

I  will  not  tell  you  all  that  happened  on  the 
journey  to  the  West.  Truth  to  say  there  was 
not  much  except  the  collision.  The  Curly- 
tops  ate  their  meals,  drank  cupful  after  cup- 
ful of  water,  and  Trouble  did  the  same,  for 
children  seem  to  get  very  thirsty  when  they 
travel — much  more  so  than  at  home. 

Then,  finally,  one  afternoon,  after  a  long 


j 

'At  Ring  Rosy  Ranch  61 

stop  when  a  new  engine  was  attached  to  the 
train,  Daddy  Martin  said : 

"We'll  be  at  Rockville  in  an  hour  now. 
So  we'd  better  begin  to  get  together  our 
things." 

" Shall  we  be  at  Uncle  Frank's  ranch  in 
an  hour?"  asked  Teddy. 

"No,  but  we'll  be  at  Rockville.  From 
there  we  go  out  over  the  prairies  in  a 
wagon." 

"A  wagon  with  ponies'?"  asked  Janet. 

"Yes,  real  Western  ponies,"  said  her 
father.  "Then  we'll  be  at  the  ranch." 

And  it  happened  just  that  way.  On 
puffed  the  train.  Then  the  porter  came  to 
help  the  Martin  family  off  at  Rockville. 

"Rockville !  Rockville !  All  out  for  Rock- 
ville!" joked  Daddy  Martin. 

' '  Hurray ! ' '  cried  Teddy.  ' '  Here  we  are ! ' ' 

"And  I  see  Uncle  Frank!"  exclaimed 
Janet,  looking  from  the  window  toward  the 
station  as  the  train  slowed  up  to  stop. 

Out  piled  the  Curlytops,  and  into  the 
arms  of  Uncle  Frank  they  rushed.  He 
caught  them  up  and  kissed  them  one  after 
the  other — Teddy,  Janet  and  Trouble. 

"Well,  well!"  he  cried,  "I'm  glad  to  see 
you!  Haven't  changed  a  bit  since  you  were 


62     The  Curlytops  at  Uncle  Frank's  Ranch 

snowed  in!  Now  pile  into  the  wagon  and 
we'll  get  right  out  to  Circle  O  Ranch." 

"Where's  that?"  asked  Teddy. 

"Why,  that's  the  name  of  my  ranch,"  said 
TJncle  Frank.  "See,  there's  the  sign  of  it," 
and  he  pointed  to  the  flank  of  one  of  the 
small  horses,  or  ponies,  hitched  to  his  wagon. 
Ted  and  Janet  saw  a  large  circle  in  which 
was  a  smaller  letter  O. 

"We  call  it  Circle  O,"  explained  the 
ranchman.  "Each  place  in  the  West  that 
raises  cattle  or  horses  has  a  certain  sign  with 
which  the  animals  are  branded,  or  marked, 
so  their  owners  can  tell  them  from  others  in 
case  they  get  mixed  up.  My  mark  is  a  circle 
around  an  O." 

"It  looks  like  a  ring-around-the-rosy, " 
said  Janet. 

' '  Say !  So  it  does ! ' '  laughed  Uncle  Frank. 
"I  never  thought  of  that.  Ring  Rosy 
Ranch !  That  isn't  a  half  bad  name !  Guess 
I'll  call  mine  that  after  this.  Come  on  to 
Ring  Rosy  Ranch !"  he  invited  as  he  laughed 
at  the  Curlytops. 

And  the  name  Janet  gave  Uncle  Frank's 
place  in  fun  stuck  to  it,  so  that  even  the  cow- 
boys began  calling  their  ranch  "Ring 
Rosy,"  instead  of  "Circle  0." 


CHAPTER  VI 

COWBOY  FTJN 

INTO  the  big  wagon  piled  the  Curlytops, 
Mrs.  Martin  and  Trouble,  while  Daddy 
Martin  and  Uncle  Frank  went  to  see  about 
the  baggage. 

Jan  and  Ted  looked  curiously  about  them. 
It  was  the  first  time  they  had  had  a  chance 
to  look  quietly  since  they  had  started  on  the 
journey,  for  they  had  been  traveling  in  the 
train  nearly  a  week,  it  seemed. 

What  they  saw  was  a  small  railroad  sta- 
tion, set  in  the  midst  of  big  rolling  fields. 
There  was  a  water  tank  near  the  station,  and 
not  far  from  the  tank  was  a  small  building 
in  which  a  pump  could  be  heard  chug-chug- 
ging away. 

"But  where  is  the  ranch?"  asked  Janet 
of  her  brother.  "I  don't  see  any  cows  and 
horses." 

"Dere's  horses,"  stated  Trouble,  pointing 
63 


64     The  Curlytops  at  Uncle  Frank's  Ranch 

to  the  two  sturdy  ponies  hitched  to  the 
wagon. 

"Yes,  I  know,"  admitted  Janet.  "But 
Uncle  Frank  said  he  had  more'n  a  hundred 
horses  and " 

"And  a  thousand  steers — that's  cattle/' 
interrupted  Ted.  "I  don't  see  any,  either. 
Maybe  we  got  off  at  the  wrong  station, 
Mother." 

"No,  you're  all  right,"  laughed  Mrs. 
Martin.  "Didn't  Uncle  Frank  meet  us  and 
didn't  Daddy  tell  us  we'd  have  to  drive  to 
the  ranch!" 

"What's  the  matter  now,  Curlytops?" 
asked  their  father's  uncle,  as  the  two  men 
came  back  from  having  seen  about  the  bag- 
gage, which  had  arrived  safely.  "What  are 
you  two  youngsters  worrying  about,  Teddy 
and  Janet?" 

"They're  afraid  we're  at  the  wrong  place 
because  they  can't  see  the  ranch,"  answered 
their  mother. 

"Oh,  that's  over  among  the  hills,"  said 
Uncle  Frank,  waving  his  hand  toward  some 
low  hills  that  were  at  the  foot  of  some  high 
mountains.  "It  wouldn't  do,"  he  went  on, 
"to  have  a  ranch  too  near  a  railroad  station. 
The  trains  might  scare  the  horses  and  cattle. 


Cowboy  Fun  65 


You  will  soon  be  there,  Curlytops.  We'll 
begin  to  travel  in  a  minute. " 

Ted  and  Janet  settled  themselves  in  the 
seat,  where  they  were  side  by  side,  and 
looked  about  them.  Suddenly  Janet  clasped 
her  brother  by  the  arm  and  exclaimed : 

"Look,  Ted  1   Look!" 

" Where?"  he  asked. 

"Right  over  there — by  the  station.  It's 
an  Indian!" 

"A  real  one?"  asked  Teddy,  who,  at  first, 
did  not  see  where  his  sister  was  pointing. 

"He  looks  like  a  real  one,"  Janet  an- 
swered. "He's  alive,  'cause  he's  moving!" 

She  ,f  miggled  closer  to  her  brother.  Then 
Teddy  saw  where  Janet  pointed.  A  big  man, 
whose  face  was  the  color  of  a  copper  cent, 
was  walking  along  the  station  platform.  He 
was  wrapped  in  a  dirty  blanket,  but  enough 
of  him  could  be  seen  to  show  that  he  was  a 
Redman. 

"Is  that  a  real  Indian,  Uncle  Frank?" 
asked  Teddy  in  erreat  excitement. 

"What?  Him?  Oh,  yes,  he's  a  real 
Indian  all  right.  There's  a  lot  of  'em  come 
down  to  the  station  to  sell  baskets  and  bead- 
work  to  the  people  who  go  through  on  the 
trains." 


66     The  Curlytops  at  Uncle  Frank's  Ranch 

"Is  he  a  tame  Indian ?"  the  little  boy  next 
wanted  to  know. 

"Oh,  he's  'tame'  all  right.  Hi  there, 
Running  Horse !"  called  Uncle  Frank  to  the 
copper-faced  man  in  the  blanket,  "sell  many 
baskets  to-day?" 

"Um  few.  No  good  business,"  answered 
the  Indian  in  a  sort  of  grunt. 

"Oh,  do  you  know  him?"  asked  Ted  in 
surprise. 

"Oh,  yes.  Running  Horse  often  comes  to 
the  ranch  when  he's  hungry.  There's  a 
reservation  of  the  Indians  not  far  from  our 
place.  They  won't  hurt  you,  Jan;  don't  be 
afraid,"  said  Uncle  Frank,  as  he  saw  that 
the  little  girl  kept  close  to  Teddy. 

"Was  he  wild  once?"  she  asked  timidly. 

"Why,  yes ;  I  guess  you  might  have  called 
him  a  wild  Indian  once,"  her  uncle  ad- 
mitted. "He's  pretty  old  and  I  shouldn't 
wonder  but  what  he  had  been  on  the  warpath 
against  the  white  settlers." 

"Oh!"  exclaimed  Janet.  "Maybe  he'll 
get  wild  again!" 

"Oh,  no  he  won't !"  laughed  Uncle  Frank. 
"He's  only  too  glad  now  to  live  on  the  reser- 
vation and  sell  the  baskets  the  squaws  make. 
The  Indian  men  don't  like  to  work." 


Cowboy  Fun  67 


Running  Horse,  which  was  the  queer 
name  the  Indian  had  chosen  for  himself,  or 
which  had  been  given  him,  walked  along, 
wrapped  in  his  blanket,  though  the  day  was 
a  warm  one.  Perhaps  he  thought  the 
blanket  kept  the  heat  out  in  summer  and  the 
cold  in  winter. 

"Get  along  now,  ponies!"  cried  Uncle 
Frank,  and  the  little  horses  began  to  trot 
along  the  road  that  wound  over  the  prairies 
like  a  dusty  ribbon  amid  the  green  grass. 

On  the  way  to  Ring  Rosy  Ranch  Uncle 
Frank  had  many  questions  to  ask,  some  of 
the  children  and  some  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Mar- 
tin. Together  they  laughed  about  the  things 
that  had  happened  when  they  were  all 
snowed  in. 

"Tell  Uncle  Frank  of  Trouble's  trying  to 
hide  Nicknack  away  so  we  wouldn't  leave 
him  behind,"  suggested  Mrs.  Martin. 

"Ha!  Ha!  That  was  pretty  good!"  ex- 
claimed the  ranchman  when  Ted  and  Janet, 
by  turns,  had  told  of  Trouble's  being  found 
asleep  in  the  goat- wagon.  "Well,  it's  too 
bad  you  couldn't  bring  Nicknack  with  you. 
He'd  like  it  out  on  the  ranch,  I'm  sure,  but 
it  would  be  too  long  a  journey  for  him. 
You'll  have  rides  enough — never  fear!" 


68 


"Pony  rides'?"  asked  Teddy. 

"Pony  rides  in  plenty!'7  laughed  Uncle 
Frank.  "We'll  soon  be  there  now,  and  you 
can  see  the  ranch  from  the  top  of  the  next 
hill." 

The  prairies  were  what  are  called  "roll- 
ing" land.  That  is  there  were  many  little 
hills  and  hollows,  and  the  country  seemed 
to  be  like  the  rolling  waves  of  the  ocean,  if 
they  had  suddenly  been  made  still. 

Sometimes  the  wagon,  drawn  by  the  two 
little  horses,  would  be  down  in  a  hollow,  and 
again  it  would  be  on  top  of  a  mound-like  hill 
from  which  a  good  view  could  be  had. 

Beaching  the  top  of  one  hill,  larger  than 
the  others,  Uncle  Frank  pointed  off  in  the 
distance  and  said  : 

"There's  Circle  O  Ranch,  Curlytops,  or, 
as  Jan  has  named  it,  Ring  Rosy  Ranch. 
We'll  be  there  in  a  little  while." 

The  children  looked.  They  saw,  off  on  the 
prairie,  a  number  of  low,  red  buildings 
standing  close  together.  Beyond  the  build- 
ings were  big  fields,  in  which  were  many 
small  dots. 

"What  are  the  dots?"  asked  Janet. 

"Those  are  my  horses  and  cattle  —  steers 
we  call  the  last,"  explained  Uncle  Frank. 


"LOOK,  TED!   LOOK!"  "IT'S  AN  INDIAN." 
The  Curlytops  at  Uncle  Frank's  Ranch 


Page  65 


Cowboy  Fun  69 


"They  are  eating  grass  to  get  fat.  You'll 
soon  be  closer  to  them." 

"Are  the  Indians  near  here?"  Teddy  in- 
quired. 

"No,  not  very  near.  It's  a  day's  ride  to 
their  reservation.  But  don't  worry  about 
them.  They  won't  bother  you  if  you  don't 
bother  them,"  said  Uncle  Frank. 

Teddy  was  not  fully  satisfied  with  this  an- 
swer, for  he  hoped  very  much  that  the  In- 
dians would  "bother  him" — at  least,  he 
thought  that  was  what  he  wanted. 

When  the  Curlytops  drew  closer  to  the 
ranch  they  could  see  that  one  of  the  build- 
ings was  a  house,  almost  like  their  own  in 
the  East,  only  not  so  tall.  It  was  all  one 
story,  as  were  the  other  buildings,  some  of 
which  were  stables  for  the  horses  and  some 
sleeping  places,  or  "bunk  houses,"  for  the 
cowboys,  while  from  one  building,  as  they 
approached  closer,  there  came  the  good  smell 
of  something  cooking. 

"That's  the  cook's  place,"  said  Uncle 
Frank,  pointing  with  his  whip.  "All  the 
cowboys  love  him,  even  if  he  is  a  China- 


man.' 


"Have  you  a  Chinese  cook?"  asked  Mrs. 
Martin. 


70     The  Curlytops  at  Uncle  Frank's  Ranch 

"Yes,  and  he's  a  good  one/'  answered 
Uncle  Frank.  '  *  Wait  until  you  taste  how  he 
fries  chicken." 

"I  hope  we  taste  some  soon,"  said  Daddy 
Martin.  "This  ride  across  the  prairies  has 
made  me  hungry." 

"I  hungry,  too!"  exclaimed  Trouble.  "I 
wants  bread  an'  milk!" 

"And  you  shall  have  all  you  want!" 
laughed  the  ranchman.  "We've  plenty  of 
milk." 

"Oh,  this  is  a  dandy  place!"  exclaimed 
Teddy,  as  the  wagon  drove  up  to  the  ranch 
house.  "We'll  have  lots  of  fun  here, 
Janet!" 

"Maybe  we  will,  if — if  the  Indians  don't 
get  us,"  she  said. 

i  'Pooh !  I 'm  not  afraid  of  them, ' '  boasted 
Teddy,  and  then  something  happened. 

All  at  once  there  came  a  lot  of  wild  yells, 
and  sounds  as  if  a  Fourth-of-July  celebra- 
tion of  the  old-fashioned  sort  were  going  on. 
There  was  a  popping  and  a  banging,  and 
then  around  the  corner  of  the  house  rode  a 
lot  of  roughly-dressed  men  on  ponies  which 
kicked  up  a  cloud  of  dust. 

"Ki-yi!  Ki-yi!  Yippi-i-yip!"  yelled  the 
men. 


Cowboy  Fun  71 


"Bang!  Bang!  Bang!"  exploded  their 
revolvers. 

"Oh,  dear!"  screamed  Janet. 

Teddy  turned  a  little  pale,  but  he  did  not 
make  a  sound. 

"What  is  it?"  asked  Mrs.  Martin,  hug- 
ging Trouble  and  his  sister  closer  to  her. 
"Oh,  what  is  it?" 

"Don't  be  afraid!"  laughed  Uncle  Frank. 
* '  Those  are  the  cowboys  making  you  welcome 
to  Ring  Rosy  Ranch.  That's  their  way  of 
having  fun!" 


CHAPTER  VII 

BAD  NEWS 

ON  came  the  cowboys,  yelling,  shouting 
and  shooting  off  their  big  revolvers  which 
made  noises  like  giant  firecrackers.  The 
men,  some  of  whom  wore  big  leather 
"pants,"  as  Teddy  said  afterward,  and  some 
of  whom  had  on  trousers  that  seemed  to  be 
made  from  the  fleece  of  sheep,  swung  their 
hats  in  the  air.  Some  of  them  even  stood  up 
in  their  saddles,  "just  like  circus  riders !"  as 
Janet  sent  word  to  Aunt  Jo,  who  was  spend- 
ing the  summer  at  Mt.  Hope. 

"Are  they  shooting  real  bullets,  Uncle 
Frank?"  asked  Teddy,  as  soon  as  the  noise 
died  down  a  little  and  the  cowboys  were  wav- 
ing their  hats  to  the  Curlytops  and  the  other 
visitors  to  Ring  Rosy  Ranch. 

"Real  bullets?  Bless  your  heart,  no!" 
exclaimed  Mr.  Barton.  * '  Of  course  the  cow- 
boys sometimes  have  real  bullets  in  their 


Bad  News  73 


' guns,'  as  they  call  their  revolvers,  but  they 
don't  shoot  'em  for  fun." 

"What  makes  them  shoot?"  asked  Janet. 

"Well,  sometimes  it's  to  scare  away  bad 
men  who  might  try  to  steal  my  cattle  or 
horses,  and  again  it's  to  scare  the  cattle 
themselves.  You  see,"  explained  Uncle 
Frank,  while  the  cowboys  jumped  from  their 
horses  and  went  to  the  bunk  house  to  wash 
and  get  ready  for  supper,  "a  ranch  is  just 
like  a  big  pasture  that  your  Grandfather 
Martin  has  at  Cherry  Farm.  Only  my  ranch 
is  ever  so  much  bigger  than  his  pastures, 
even  all  of  them  put  together.  And  there 
are  very  few  fences  around  any  of  my  fields, 
so  the  cattle  or  horses  might  easily  stray  off, 
or  be  taken. 

"Because  of  that  I  have  to  hire  men — 
cowboys  they  are  called — to  watch  my  cattle 
and  horses,  to  see  that  they  do  not  run  away 
and  that  no  white  men  or  Indians  come  and 
run  away  with  them. 

"But  sometimes  the  cattle  take  it  into 
their  heads  to  run  away  themselves.  They 
get  frightened — 'stampeded'  we  call  it — 
and  they  don't  care  which  way  they  run. 
Sometimes  a  prairie  fire  will  make  them  run 
and  again  it  may  be  bad  men — thieves.  The 


74     The  Curlytops  at  Uncle  Frank's  Ranch 

cowboys  have  to  stop  the  cattle  from  run- 
ning away,  and  they  do  it  by  firing  revolvers 
in  front  of  them.  So  it  wouldn't  do  to  have 
real  bullets  in  their  guns  when  the  cowboys 
are  firing  that  way.  They  use  blank  cart- 
ridges, just  as  they  did  now  to  salute  you 
"when  they  came  in." 

"Is  that  what  they  did?"  asked  Teddy. 
"Saluted  usf" 

"That's  it.  They  just  thought  they'd 
have  a  little  fun  with  you — see  if  they  could 
scare  you,  maybe,  because  you're  what  they 
call  a  'tenderfoot,'  Teddy." 

"Pooh,  I  wasn't  afraid!"  declared  Teddy, 
perhaps  forgetting  a  little.  "I  liked  it.  It 
was  like  the  Fourth  of  July!" 

"I  didn't  like  it,"  said  Janet,  with  a  shake 
of  her  curly  head.  "And  what's  a  soft-foot, 
Uncle  Frank?" 

"A  soft-foot?  Oh,  ho!  I  see!"  he 
laughed.  "You  mean  a  tenderfoot!  Well, 
that's  what  the  Western  cowboys  call  any- 
body from  the  East — where  you  came  from. 
It  means,  I  guess,  that  their  feet  are  tender 
because  they  walk  so  much  and  don't  ride  a 
horse  the  way  cowboys  do.  You  see  out  here 
we  folks  hardly  ever  walk.  If  we've  only 
got  what  you  might  call  a  block  to  go  we  hop 


Bad  News  75 


on  a  horse  and  ride.  So  we  get  out  of  the 
way  of  walking. 

"Now  you  Eastern  folk  walk  a  good  bit — 
that  is  when  you  aren't  riding  in  street  cars 
and  in  your  automobiles,  and  I  suppose 
that's  why  the  cowboys  call  you  tender- 
feet.  You  don't  mind,  though,  do  you, 
Teddy?" 

"Nope,"  he  said.  "I  like  it.  But  I'm  go- 
ing to  learn  to  ride  a  pony." 

"So'm  I!"  exclaimed  Janet. 

"I  wants  a  wide,  too!"  cried  Trouble. 
"Can't  I  wide,  Uncle  Frank?  We  hasn't 
got  Mcknack,  but  maybe  you  got  a  goat," 
and  he  looked  up  at  his  father's  uncle. 

"No,  I  haven't  a  goat,"  laughed  Uncle 
Frank,  "though  there  might  be  some  sheep 
on  some  of  the  ranches  here.  But  I  guess 
ponies  will  suit  you  children  better.  When 
you  Curlytops  learn  to  ride  you  can  take 
Trouble  up  on  the  saddle  with  you  and  give 
him  a  ride.  He's  too  small  to  ride  by  him- 
self yet." 

"I  should  say  he  was,  Uncle  Frank!" 
cried  Mrs.  Martin.  "Don't  let  Mm  get  on  a 
horse!" 

"I  won't,"  promised  Mr.  Barton  with  a 
laugh.  But  Trouble  said: 


76     The  Curlytops  at  Uncle  Frank's  Ranch 

"I  likes  a  pony!  I  wants  a  wide,  Muz- 
zer!" 

"You  may  ride  with  me  when  I  learn," 
promised  Janet. 

"Dat  nice,"  responded  William. 

Uncle  Frank's  wife,  whom  everyone  called 
Aunt  Millie,  came  out  of  the  ranch  house 
and  welcomed  the  Curlytops  and  the  others. 
She  had  not  seen  them  for  a  number  of 
years. 

"My,  how  big  the  children  are !"  she  cried 
as  she  looked  at  Janet  and  Teddy.  "And 
here's  one  I've  never  seen,"  she  went  on,  as 
she  caught  Trouble  up  in  her  arms  and 
kissed  him. 

"Now  come  right  in.  Hop  Sing  has  sup- 
per ready  for  you." 

"Hop  Sing!"  laughed  Mother  Martin. 
"That  sounds  like  a  new  record  on  the 
phonograph." 

"It's  the  name  of  our  Chinese  cook,"  ex- 
plained Aunt  Millie,  "and  a  very  good  one 
he  is,  too!" 

"Are  the  cowboys  coming  in  to  eat  with 
us?"  asked  Teddy,  as  they  all  went  into  the 
house,  where  the  baggage  had  been  carried 
by  Uncle  Frank  and  Daddy  Martin. 

"Oh,  no.    They  eat  by  themselves  in  their 


Bad  News  77 


own  building.  Not  that  we  wouldn't  have 
them,  for  they're  nice  boys,  all  of  them,  but 
they'd  rather  be  by  themselves." 

"Do  any  Indians  come  in?"  asked  Janet, 
looking  toward  the  door. 

"Bless  your  heart,  no!"  exclaimed  Aunt 
Millie.  "We  wouldn't  want  them,  for 
they're  dirty  and  not  at  all  nice,  though  some 
of  them  do  look  like  pictures  when  they  wrap 
themselves  around  in  a  red  blanket  and  stick 
feathers  in  their  hair.  We  don't  want  any 
Indians.  Now  tell  me  about  your  trip." 

"We  were  in  a  collision!"  cried  Janet. 

"In  the  middle  of  the  night,"  added 
Teddy. 

"An'  I  mos'  fell  out  of  my  bed!"  put  in 
Trouble. 

Then,  amid  laughter,  the  story  of  the  trip 
from  the  East  was  told.  Meanwhile  Hop 
Sing,  the  Chinese  cook,  cried  out  in  his 
funny,  squeaky  voice  that  supper  was  get- 
ting cold. 

"Well,  we'll  eat  first  and  talk  afterward," 
said  Uncle  Frank,  as  he  led  the  way  to  the 
table.  "Come  on,  folks.  I  expect  you  all 
have  good  appetites.  That's  what  we're 
noted  for  at  Ring  Rosy  Ranch." 

"What's    that?"    asked    Aunt    Millie. 


78     The  Curlytops  at  Uncle  Frank's  Ranch 

"Have  you  given  Circle  O  a  new  name?" 

"One  of  the  Curlytops  did,"  chuckled 
Uncle  Frank.  * '  They  said  my  branding  sign 
looked  just  like  a  ring-round-the-rosy,  so 
I'm  going  to  call  the  ranch  that  after  this." 

"It's  a  nice  name,"  said  Aunt  Millie. 
"And  now  let  me  see  you  Curlytops — and 
Trouble,  too — though  his  hair  isn't  frizzy 
like  Ted's  and  Janet's — let  me  see  you  eat 
until  you  get  as  fat  as  a  Ring  Rosy  your- 
selves. If  you  don't  eat  as  much  as  you  can 
of  everything,  Hop  Sing  will  feel  as  though 
he  was  not  a  good  cook. ' ' 

The  Curlytops  were  hungry  enough  to  eat 
without  having  to  be  told  to,  and  Hop  Sing, 
looking  into  the  dining-room  now  and  then 
from  where  he  was  busy  in  the  kitchen, 
smiled  and  nodded  his  head  as  he  said  to  the 
maid. 

"Lil'  chillens  eat  velly  good!" 

"Indeed  they  do  eat  very  good,"  said  the 
maid,  as  she  carried  in  more  of  the  food 
which  Hop  Sing  knew  so  well  how  to  cook. 

After  supper  the  Curlytops  and  the  others 
sat  out  on  the  broad  porch  of  the  ranch 
house.  Off  to  one  side  were  the  other  build- 
ings, some  where  the  farming  tools  were 
kept,  for  Uncle  Frank  raised  some  grain  as 


Bad  News  79 


well  as  cattle,  and  some  where  the  cowboys 
lived,  as  well  as  others  where  they  stabled 
their  horses. 

"I  know  what  let's  do,"  said  Jan,  when 
she  and  her  brother  had  sat  on  the  porch  for 
some  time,  listening  to  the  talk  of  the  older 
folks,  and  feeling  very  happy  that  they  were 
at  Uncle  Frank's  ranch,  where,  they  felt 
sure,  they  could  have  such  good  times. 

"What  can  we  do?"  asked  Teddy.  Very 
often  he  let  Jan  plan  some  fun,  and  I  might 
say  that  she  got  into  trouble  doing  this  as 
many  times  as  her  brother  did.  Jan  was 
a  regular  boy,  in  some  things.  But  then  I 
suppose  any  girl  is  who  has  two  nice  broth- 
ers, even  if  one  is  little  enough  to  be  called 
"Baby." 

"Let's  go  and  take  a  walk,"  suggested 
Jan.  "My  legs  feel  funny  yet  from  ridin' 
in  the  cars  so  much." 

"Ui-ding!"  yelled  Teddy  gleefully. 
"That's  the  time  you  forgot  your  g,  Janet." 

"Yes,  I  did,"  admitted  the  little  girl. 
"But  there's  so  much  to  look  at  here  that  it's 
easy  to  forget.  My  forgetter  works  easier 
than  yours  does,  Ted." 

"It  does  not!" 

"It  does,  too!" 


80    The  Curlytops  at  Uncle  Frank's  Ranch 

"It  does  not !" 

"I — say — it — does!"  and  Janet  was  very 
positive. 

"Now,  now,  children!"  chided  their 
mother.  "That  isn't  nice.  What  are  you 
disputing  about  now1?" 

"Jan  says  her  forgetter's  better 'n  mine!" 
cried  Ted. 

1 1  And  it  is, "  insisted  Janet.  "  I  can  forget 
lots  easier  than  Ted." 

"Well,  forgetting  isn't  a  very  good  thing 
to  do,"  said  Mr.  Martin.  "Remembering  is 
better." 

* l  Oh,  that 's  what  I  meant ! ' '  said  Jan.  ' '  I 
thought  it  was  a  forgetter.  Anyhow  mine's 
better 'n  Ted's!" 

"Now  don't  start  that  again,"  warned 
Mother  Martin,  playfully  shaking  her  fin- 
ger at  the  two  children.  "Be  nice  now. 
Amuse  yourselves  in  some,  quiet  way.  It 
will  soon  be  time  to  go  to  bed.  You  must  be 
tired.  Be  nice  now." 

"Come  on,  let's  go  for  a  walk,"  proposed 
Jan  again,  and  Ted,  now  that  the  forget- 
memory  dispute  was  over,  was  willing  to  be 
friendly  and  kind  and  go  with  his  sister. 

So  while  Trouble  climbed  up  into  his 
mother's  lap,  and  the  older  folks  were  talk- 


Bad  News  81 


ing  among  themselves,  the  two  Curlytops, 
not  being  noticed  by  the  others,  slipped  off 
the  porch  and  walked  toward  the  ranch 
buildings,  out  near  the  corrals,  or  the  f  enced- 
in  places,  where  the  horses  were  kept. 

There  were  too  many  horses  to  keep  them 
all  penned  in,  or  fenced  around,  just  as  there 
are  too  many  cattle  on  a  cattle  ranch.  But 
the  cowboys  who  do  not  want  their  horses 
which  they  ride  to  get  too  far  away  put  them 
in  a  corral.  This  is  just  as  good  as  a  barn, 
except  in  cold  weather. 

" There 's  lots  of  things  to  see  here,"  said 
Teddy,  as  he  and  his  sister  walked  along. 

' '  Yes, ' '  she  agreed.  "  It 's  lots  of  fun.  I  'm 
glad  I  came." 

"  So  'm  I.  Oh,  look  at  the  lots  of  ponies  I ' r 
she  cried,  as  she  and  Ted  turned  a  corner  of 
one  of  the  ranch  buildings  and  came  in  sight 
of  a  new  corral.  In  it  were  a  number  of  lit- 
tle horses,  some  of  which  hung  their  heads 
over  the  fence  and  watched  the  Curlytops 
approaching. 

"I'd  like  to  ride  one,"  sighed  Teddy  wist- 
fully. 

"Oh,  you  mustn't!"  cried  Jan.  "Uncle 
Frank  wouldn't  like  it,  nor  mother  or  father, 
either.  You  have  to  ask  first." 


82     The  Curlytops  at  Uncle  Frank's  Ranch 

"Oh,  I  don't  mean  ride  now,"  said  Ted. 
"Anyhow,  I  haven't  got  a  saddle." 

"Can't  you  ride  without  a  saddle*?"  asked 
Janet. 

"Well,  not  very  good  I  guess,"  Ted  an- 
swered. "A  horse's  back  has  a  bone  in  the 
middle  of  it,  and  that  bumps  you  when  you 
don't  have  a  saddle." 

"How  do  you  know?"  asked  Janet. 

"I  know,  'cause  once  the  milkman  let  me 
sit  on  his  horse  and  I  felt  the  bone  in  his 
back.  It  didn't  feel  good." 

"Maybe  the  milkman's  horse  was  awful 
bony." 

"He  was,"  admitted  Ted.  "But  anyhow 
you've  got  to  have  a  saddle  to  ride  a  horse, 
lessen  you're  a  Indian  and  I'm  not." 

"Well,  maybe  after  a  while  Uncle 
Frank '11  give  you  a  saddle,"  said  Janet. 

"Maybe,"  agreed  her  brother.  "Oh,  see 
how  the  ponies  look  at  us !" 

"And  one's  following  us  all  around," 
added  his  sister.  For  the  little  horses  had 
indeed  all  come  to  the  side  of  the  corral  fence 
nearest  the  Curlytops,  and  were  following 
along  as  the  children  walked. 

"What  do  you  s'pose  they  want?"  asked 
Teddy. 


Bad  News  83 


' 'Maybe  they're  hungry, ' '  answered  Janet. 

" Let's  pull  some  grass  for  'em,"  suggested 
Teddy,  and  they  did  this,  feeding  it  to  the 
horses  that  stretched  their  necks  over  the 
top  rail  of  the  fence  and  chewed  the  green 
bunches  as  if  they  very  much  liked  their 
fodder. 

But  after  a  while  Jan  and  Ted  tired  of 
even  this.  And  no  wonder — there  were  so 
many  horses,  and  they  all  seemed  to  like 
the  grass  so  much  that  the  children  never 
could  have  pulled  enough  for  all  of  them. 

"Look  at  that  one  always  pushing  the  oth- 
ers out  of  the  way,"  said  Janet,  pointing  to 
one  pony,  larger  than  the  others,  who  was 
always  first  at  the  fence,  and  first  to  reach 
his  nose  toward  the  bunches  of  grass. 

"And  there's  a  little  one  that  can't  get 
any,"  said  her  brother.  "I'd  like  to  give 
him  some,  Jan." 

"So  would  I.  But  how  can  we?  Every 
time  I  hold  out  some  grass  to  him  the  big 
horse  takes  it." 

Teddy  thought  for  a  minute  and  then  he 
said: 

"I  know  what  we  can  do  to  keep  the  big 
horse  from  getting  it  all." 

"What?"  asked  Janet. 


84     The  Curlytops  at  Uncle  Frank's  Ranch 

"We  can  both  pull  some  grass.  Then  you 
go  to  one  end  of  the  fence,  and  hold  out  your 
bunch.  The  big  horse  will  come  to  get  it 
and  push  the  others  away,  like  he  always 
does." 

"But  then  the  little  pony  won't  get  any," 
Janet  said. 

1 '  Oh,  yes,  he  will ! ' '  cried  Teddy.  ' l  'Cause 
when  you're  feeding  the  big  horse  I'll  run 
up  and  give  the  little  horse  my  bunch.  Then 
he'll  have  some  all  by  himself." 

And  this  the  Curlytops  did.  When  the 
big  horse  was  chewing  the  grass  Janet  gave 
him,  Ted  held  out  some  to  the  little  horse  at 
the  other  end  of  the  corral.  And  he  ate  it, 
but  only  just  in  time,  for  the  big  pony  saw 
what  was  going  on  and  trotted  up  to  shove 
the  small  animal  out  of  the  way.  But  it  was 
too  late. 

Then  Janet  and  Teddy  walked  on  a  little 
further,  until  Janet  said  it  was  growing  late 
and  they  had  better  go  back  to  the  porch 
where  the  others  were  still  talking. 

Evening  was  coming  on.  The  sun  had 
set,  but  there  was  still  a  golden  glow  in  the 
sky.  Far  off  in  one  of  the  big  fields  a  num- 
ber of  horses  and  cattle  could  be  seen,  and 
riding  out  near  them  were  some  of  the  cow- 


Bad  News  85 


boys  who,  after  their  supper,  had  gone  out 
to  see  that  all  was  well  for  the  night. 

"Is  "all  this  your  land,  Uncle  Frank?" 
asked  Teddy  as  he  stood  on  the  porch  and 
looked  over  the  fields. 

"Yes,  as  far  as  you  can  see,  and  farther. 
If  you  Curlytops  get  lost,  which  I  hope  you 
won't,  you'll  have  to  go  a  good  way  to  get 
off  my  ranch.  But  let  me  tell  you  now,  not 
to  go  too  far  away  from  the  house,  unless 
your  father  or  some  of  us  grown  folks  are 
with  you." 

"Why?"  asked  Janet. 

"Well,  you  might  get  lost,  you  know,  and 
then — oh,  well,  don't  go  off  by  yourselves, 
that's  all,"  and  Uncle  Frank  turned  to  an- 
swer a  question  Daddy  Martin  asked  him. 

Ted  and  Janet  wondered  why  they 
could  not  go  off  by  themselves  as  they  had 
done  at  Cherry  Farm. 

"Maybe  it's  because  of  the  Indians,"  sug- 
gested Jan. 

"Pooh,  I'm  not  afraid  of  them,"  Teddy 
announced. 

Just  then  one  of  the  cowboys — later  the 
children  learned  he  was  Jim  Mason,  the 
foreman — came  walking  up  to  the  porch. 
He  walked  in  a  funny  way,  being  more  used 


86     The  Curlytops  at  Uncle  Frank's  Ranch 

to  going  along  on  a  horse  than  on  his  own 
feet. 

"Good  evening,  folks!"  he  said,  taking  off 
his  hat  and  waving  it  toward  the  Curlytops 
and  the  others. 

"Hello,  Jim!"  was  Uncle  Frank's  greet- 
ing. ' '  Everything  all  right  1 ' ' 

"No,  it  isn't,  I'm  sorry  to  say,"  answered 
the  foreman.  "I've  got  bad  news  for  you, 
Mr.  Barton!" 


CHAPTER  VIII 

A   QUEER  NOISE 

THE  Curlytops  looked  at  the  ranch  fore- 
man as  he  said  this.  Uncle  Frank  looked  at 
him,  too.  The  foreman  stood  twirling  his 
big  hat  around  in  his  hand.  Teddy  looked 
at  the  big  revolver — "gun"  the  cowboys 
called  it — which  dangled  from  Jim  Mason's 
belt. 

"Bad  news,  is  it?"  asked  Uncle  Frank. 
"I'm  sorry  to  hear  that.  I  hope  none  of  the 
boys  is  sick.  Nobody  been  shot,  has  there, 
during  the  celebration?" 

"Oh,  no,  the  boys  are  all  right,"  answered 
the  foreman.  "  But  it 's  bad  news  about  some 
of  your  ponies — a  lot  of  them  you  had  out 
on  grass  over  there,"  and  he  pointed  to  the 
west — just  where  Ted  and  Janet  could  not 


see. 
« 


Bad  news  about  the  ponies?"  repeated 
87 


88     The  Curlytops  at  Uncle  Frank's  Ranch 

Uncle  Frank.  "Well,  now,  I'm  sorry  to  hear 
that.  Some  of  'em  sick1?" 

1 1  Not  as  I  know  of, ' '  replied  Jim.  "  But  a 
lot  of  'em  have  been  taken  away — stolen,  I 
guess  I'd  better  call  it." 

"A  lot  of  my  ponies  stolen?"  cried  Uncle 
Frank,  jumping  up  from  his  chair.  "That 
is  bad  news!  When  did  it  happen?  Why 
don't  you  get  the  cowboys  together  and  chase 
after  the  men  who  took  the  ponies  ?" 

"Well,  I  would  have  done  that  if  I  knew 
where  to  go,"  said  the  foreman.  "But  I 
didn't  hear  until  a  little  while  ago,  when  one 
of  the  cowboys  I  sent  to  see  if  the  ponies 
were  all  right  came  in.  He  got  there  to  find 
'em  all  gone,  so  I  came  right  over  to  tell 
you." 

"Well,  we'll  have  to  see  about  this!"  ex- 
claimed Uncle  Frank.  "Who's  the  cowboy 
you  sent  to  see  about  the  ponies?" 

"Henry  Jensen.  He  just  got  in  a  little 
while  ago,  after  a  hard  ride." 

"And  who  does  he  think  took  the  horses  ?" 

"He  said  it  looked  as  if  the  Indians  had 
done  it!"  and  at  these  words  from  the  fore- 
man Ted  and  Janet  looked  at  one  another 
with  widely  opened  eyes. 

"Indians?"  said  Uncle  Frank.    "Why,  I 


A  Queer  Noise  89 

didn't  think  any  of  them  had  come  off  their 
reservation." 

"Some  of  'em  must  have,"  the  foreman 
went  on.  "They  didn't  have  any  ponies  of 
their  own,  I  guess,  so  they  took  yours  and 
rode  off  on  'em." 

"Well,  this  is  too  bad!"  said  Uncle  Frank 
in  a  low  voice.  * 1 1  guess  we  '11  have  to  get  our 
boys  together  and  chase  after  these  In- 
dians," he  went  on.  "Yes,  that's  what  I'll 
do.  I've  got  to  get  back  my  ponies." 

"Oh,  can't  I  come?"  cried  Teddy,  not  un- 
derstanding all  that  was  going  on,  but 
enough  to  know  that  his  uncle  was  going 
somewhere  with  the  cowboys,  and  Teddy 
wanted  to  go,  too. 

"Oh,  I'm  afraid  you  couldn't  come — 
Curlytop,"  said  the  foreman,  giving  Teddy 
the  name  almost  everyone  called  him  at  first 
sight,  and  this  was  the  first  time  Jim  Mason 
had  seen  Teddy. 

"No,  you  little  folks  must  stay  at  home," 
added  Uncle  Frank. 

"Are  you  really  going  after  Indians?" 
Teddy  wanted  to  know. 

"Yes,  to  find  out  if  they  took  any  of  my 
ponies.  You  see,"  went  on  Uncle  Frank, 
speaking  to  Daddy  and  Mother  Martin  as 


90     The  Curlytops  at  Uncle  Frank's  Ranch 

well  as  to  the  Curlytops,  "the  Indians  are 
kept  on  what  is  called  a  *  reservation/  That 
is,  the  government  gives  them  certain  land 
for  their  own  and  they  are  told  they  must 
stay  there,  though  once  in  a  while  some  of 
them  come  off  to  sell  blankets  and  bark- 
work  at  the  railroad  stations. 

"And,  sometimes,  maybe  once  a  year,  a 
lot  of  the  Indians  get  tired  of  staying  on  the 
reservation  and  some  of  them  will  get  to- 
gether and  run  off.  Sometimes  they  ride 
away  on  their  own  horses,  and  again  they 
may  take  some  from  the  nearest  ranch.  I 
guess  this  time  they  took  some  of  mine." 

"And  how  will  you  catch  them?"  asked 
Mrs.  Martin. 

"Oh,  we'll  try  to  find  out  which  way  they 
went  and  then  we'll  follow  after  them  until 
we  catch  them  and  get  back  the  ponies." 

"It's  just  like  hide-and-go-seek,  isn't  it, 
Uncle  Frank?"  asked  Janet. 

"Yes,  something  like  that.  But  it  takes 
longer." 

"I  wish  I  could  go  to  hunt  the  Indians!" 
murmured  Teddy. 

"Why,  The-o-dore  Mar-tin!"  exclaimed 
his  mother.  "I'm  surprised  at  you!" 

"Well,  I  would  like  to  go,"  he  said. 


A  Queer  Noise  91 

"  Could  I  go  if  I  knew  how  to  ride  a  pony, 
Uncle  Frank?" 

"Well,  I  don't  know.  I'm  afraid  you're 
too  little.  But,  speaking  of  riding  a  pony, 
to-morrow  I'll  have  one  of  the  cowboys  start 
in  to  teach  you  and  Janet  to  ride.  Now  I 
guess  I'll  have  to  go  see  this  Henry  Jensen 
and  ask  him  about  the  Indians  and  my  stolen 
ponies." 

"I  hope  he  gets  them  back,"  said  Teddy 
to  his  sister. 

1 1  So  do  I, "  she  agreed.  ' '  And  I  hope  those 
Indians  don't  come  here." 

"Pooh  1  they're  tame  Indians  1"  exclaimed 
Teddy. 

"They  must  be  kind  of  wild  when  they 
steal  ponies,"  Janet  said. 

A  little  later  the  Curlytops  and  Trouble 
went  to  bed,  for  they  had  been  up  early  that 
day.  They  fell  asleep  almost  at  once,  even 
though  their  bed  was  not  moving  along  in  a 
railroad  train,  as  it  had  been  the  last  three 
or  four  nights. 

"Did  Uncle  Frank  find  his  ponies?" 
asked  Teddy  the  next  morning  at  the  break- 
fast table. 

"No,  Curlytop,"  answered  Aunt  Millie. 
"He  and  some  of  the  cowboys  have  gone  over 


92     The  Curlytops  at  Uncle  Frank's  Ranch 

to  the  field  where  the  ponies  were  kept  to  see 
if  they  can  get  any  news  of  them." 

"Can  we  learn  to  ride  a  pony  to-day?" 
asked  Janet. 

"As  soon  as  Uncle  Frank  comes  back," 
answered  her  father.  "You  and  Ted  and 
Trouble  play  around  the  house  now  as  much 
as  you  like.  When  Uncle  Frank  comes  back 
he'll  see  about  getting  a  pony  for  you  to 
ride." 

"Come  on!"  called  Ted  to  his  sister  after 
breakfast.  "We'll  have  some  fun." 

"I  come,  too!"  called  Trouble.  "I  wants 
a  wide!  I  wish  we  had  Mcknack." 

"It  would  be  fun  if  we  had  our  goat  here, 
wouldn't  it?"  asked  Janet  of  her  brother. 

"Yes,  but  I'd  rather  have  a  pony.  I'm 
going  to  be  a  cowboy,  and  you  can't  be  a  cow- 
boy and  ride  a  goat." 

"No,  I  s'pose  not,"  said  Janet.  "But  a 
goat  isn't  so  high  up  as  a  pony,  Ted,  and  if 
you  fall  off  a  goat's  back  you  don't  hurt 
yourself  so  much." 

"I'm  not  going  to  fall  off,"  declared 
Teddy. 

The  children  wandered  about  among  the 
ranch  buildings,  looking  in  the  bunk  house 
where  the  cowboys  slept.  There  was  only 


A  Queer  Noise  93 

one  person  in  there,  and  he  was  an  old  man 
to  be  called  a ' '  boy, ' '  thought  Janet.  But  all 
men,  whether  young  or  old,  who  look  after 
the  cattle  on  a  ranch,  are  called  "cowboys," 
so  age  does  not  matter. 

"Howdy,'7  said  this  cowboy  with  a  cheer- 
ful smile,  as  the  Curlytops  looked  in  at  him. 
He  was  mending  a  broken  strap  to  his  sad- 
dle. '  *  Where  'd  you  get  that  curly  hair  ? ' '  he 
asked.  "I  lost  some  just  like  that.  Wonder 
if  you  got  mine?" 

Janet  hardly  knew  what  to  make  of  this, 
but  Teddy  said : 

"No,  sir.  This  is  our  hair.  It's  fast  to 
our  heads  and  we've  had  it  a  long  time." 

"It  was  always  curly  this  way,"  added 
Janet. 

"Oh,  was  it?  Well,  then  it  can't  be 
mine, ' '  said  the  cowboy  with  a  laugh.  * '  Mine 
was  curly  only  when  I  was  a  baby,  and  that 
was  a  good  many  years  ago.  Are  you  going 
to  live  here?" 

"We're  going  to  stay  all  summer,"  Janet 
said.  "Do  you  live  here?" 

"Well,  yes;  as  much  as  anywhere." 

"Could  you  show  us  where  the  Indians 
are  that  took  Uncle  Frank's  ponies'?" 
Teddy  demanded. 


94    The  Curlytop*  at  Uncle  Frank's  Ranch 

"Wish  I  could!"  exclaimed  the  cowboy. 
"If  I  knew,  I'd  go  after  'em  myself  and  get 
the  ponies  back.  I  guess  those  Indians  are 
pretty  far  away  from  here  by  now.'7 

"Do  they  hide?"  asked  Teddy. 

"Yes,  they  may  hide  away  among  the 
hills  and  wait  for  a  chance  to  sell  the  ponies 
they  stole  from  your  uncle.  But  don't 
worry  your  curly  heads  about  Indians. 
Have  a  good  time  here.  It  seems  good  to 
see  little  children  around  a  place  like  this." 

"Have  you  got  a  lasso?"  asked  Teddy. 

"You  mean  my  rope?  Course  I  got  one 
— every  cowboy  has,"  was  the  answer. 

"I  wish  you'd  lasso  something,"  went  on 
Teddy,  who  had  once  been  to  see  a  Wild 
West  show. 

"All  right,  I'll  do  a  little  rope  work  for 
you,"  said  the  cowboy,  with  a  good-natured 
smile.  "Just  wait  until  I  mend  my  sad- 
dle." 

In  a  little  while  he  came  riding  into  the 
yard  in  front  of  the  bunk  house  on  a  lively 
little  pony.  He  made  the  animal  race  up 
and  down  and,  while  doing  this,  the  cowboy 
swung  his  coiled  rope,  or  lasso,  about  his 
head,  and  sent  it  in  curling  rings  toward 
posts  and  benches,  hauling  the  latter  after 


A  Queer  Noise  95 

him  by  winding  the  rope  around  the  horn 
of  his  saddle  after  he  had  lassoed  them. 

"Say!  that's  fine!"  cried  Teddy  with  glis- 
tening eyes.  "I'm  going  to  learn  how  to 
lasso." 

"I'll  show  you  after  a  while,"  the  cowboy 
offered.  "You  can't  learn  too  young.  But 
I  must  go  now." 

"Could  I  just  have  a  little  ride  on  your 
pony's  back?"  asked  Teddy. 

"To  be  sure  you  could,"  cried  the  cow- 
boy. "Here  you  go!" 

He  leaped  from  the  saddle  and  lifted 
Teddy  up  to  it,  while  Janet  and  Trouble 
looked  on  in  wonder.  Then  holding  Ted  to 
his  seat  by  putting  an  arm  around  him,  while 
he  walked  beside  the  pony  and  guided  it,  the 
cowboy  gave  the  little  fellow  a  ride,  much  to 
Teddy's  delight. 

"Hurray!"  he  called  to  Janet  "I'm 
learning  to  be  a  cowboy!" 

"That's  right — you  are!"  laughed  Daddy 
Martin,  coming  out  just  then.  "How  do 
you  like  it?" 

"Dandy!"  Teddy  said.  "Come  on, 
Janet!"  " 

"Yes,  we  ought  to  have  let  the  ladies  go 
first, ' '  said  the  cowboy.  " But  I  didn  't  know 


96    The  Curlytops  at  Uncle  Frank's  Ranch 

whether  the  leetle  gal  cared  for  horses,"  he 
went  on  to  Mr.  Martin. 

"I  like  horses,"  admitted  Janet.  "But 
maybe  I'll  fall  off." 

"I  won't  let  you,"  the  cowboy  answered, 
as  he  lifted  her  to  the  saddle.  Then  he  led 
the  pony  around  with  her  on  his  back,  and 
Janet  liked  it  very  much. 

"I  wants  a  wide,  too!"  cried  Trouble. 

"Hi!  that's  so!  Mustn't  forget  you!" 
laughed  the  cowboy,  and  he  held  Baby  Wil- 
liam in  the  saddle,  much  to  the  delight  of 
that  little  fellow. 

•  "Now  you  mustn't  bother  any  more," 
saioSDaddy  Martin.  "You  children  have 
had  fun  enough.  You'll  have  more  pony- 
back  rides  later." 

"Yes,  I'll  have  to  go  now,"  the  cowboy 
said,  and,  leaping  into  the  saddle,  he  rode 
away  in  a  cloud  of  dust. 

The  Curlytops  and  Trouble  wandered 
around  among  the  ranch  buildings.  Daddy 
Martin,  seeing  that  the  children  were  all 
right,  left  them  to  themselves. 

"Fse  hungry,"  said  Trouble,  after  a  bit. 

"  So  'm  I, "  added  Teddy.  ' '  Do  you  s  'pose 
that  funny  Chinaman  would  give  us  a  cookie, 
Jan?" 


A  Queer  Noise  97 

"  Chinamen  don't  know  how  to  make  cook- 
ies. " 

"Well,  maybe  they  know  how  to  make 
something  just  as  good.  Let's  go  around  to 
the  cook  house — that's  what  Aunt  Millie 
calls  it." 

The  cook  house  was  easy  to  find,  for  from 
it  came  a  number  of  good  smells,  and,  as 
they  neared  it,  the  Curlytops  saw  the  laugh- 
ing face  of  the  Chinese  cook  peering  out  at 
them. 

"LiP  gal  hungly — IP  boy  hungly  ?  "  asked 
Hop  Sing  in  his  funny  talk. 

"Got  any  cookies?"  inquired  Teddy. 

"No  glot  clooklies — glot  him  clake,"  the 
Chinese  answered. 

"What  does  he  say?"  asked  Janet  of  her 
brother. 

"I  guess  he  means  cake,"  whispered 
Teddy,  and  that  was  just  what  Hop  Sing  did 
mean.  He  brought  out  some  nice  cake  on  a 
plate  and  Trouble  and  the  Curlytops  had  as 
much  as  was  good  for  them,  if  not  quite  all 
they  wanted. 

"Glood  clake?"  asked  Hop  Sing,  when 
nothing  but  the  crumbs  were  left — and  not 
many  of  them. 

"I  guess  he  means  was  it  good  cake," 


98    The  Curlytops  at  Uncle  Frank's  Ranch 

then  whispered  Janet  to  her  little  brother. 

"Yes,  it  was  fine  and  good!"  exclaimed 
Teddy.  "Thank  you." 

"You  mluch  welclome — clome  some  mo' !" 
laughed  Hop  Sing,  as  the  children  moved 
away. 

They  spent  the  morning  playing  about  the 
ranch  near  the  house.  They  made  a  sea-saw 
from  a  board  and  a  barrel,  and  played  some 
of  the  games  they  had  learned  on  Cherry 
Farm  or  while  camping  with  Grandpa  Mar- 
tin. Then  dinner  time  came,  but  Uncle 
Frank  and  the  cowboys  did  not  come  back 
to  it. 

"Won't  they  be  hungry  ?"  asked  Teddy. 

"Oh,  they  took  some  bacon,  coffee  and 
other  things  with  them,"  said  Aunt  Millie. 
"They  often  have  to  camp  out  for  days  at  a 
time." 

"Say,  I  wish  I  could  do  that!"  cried 
Teddy. 

"Wait  until  you  get  to  be  a  cowboy,"  ad- 
vised his  father. 

That  afternoon  Trouble  went  to  lie  down 
with  his  mother  to  have  a  nap,  and  Teddy 
and  Janet  wandered  off  by  themselves, 
promising  not  to  go  too  far  away  from  the 
house. 


'A  Queer  Noise  99 

But  the  day  was  so  pleasant,  and  it  was  so 
nice  to  walk  over  the  soft  grass  that,  before 
they  knew  it,  Teddy  and  Janet  had  wan- 
dered farther  than  they  meant  to.  As  the 
land  was  rolling — here  hills  and  there  hol- 
lows— they  were  soon  out  of  sight  of  the 
ranch  buildings,  but  they  were  not  afraid, 
as  they  knew  by  going  to  a  high  part  of  the 
prairie  they  could  see  their  way  back  home 
—or  they  thought  they  could.  There  were 
no  woods  around  them,  though  there  were 
trees  and  a  little  stream  of  water  farther 
off. 

Suddenly,  as  the  Curlytops  were  walking 
along  together,  they  came  to  a  place  where 
there  were  a  lot  of  rocks  piled  up  in  a  sort 
of  shelter.  Indeed  one  place  looked  as 
though  it  might  be  a  cave.  And  as  Teddy 
and  Janet  were  looking  at  this  they  heard  a 
strange  noise,  which  came  from  among  the 
rocks.  , 

Both  children  stopped  and  stood  perfectly 
still  for  a  moment. 

"Did  you  hear  that  ?"  asked  Jan,  clasping 
her  brother's  arm. 

"Yes — I  did,"  he  answered. 

"Did — did  it  sound  like  some  one  groan- 
ing?" she  went  on. 


100     The  Curlytops  at  Uncle  Frank's  Ranch 

Teddy  nodded  his  head  to  show  that  it  had 
sounded  that  way  to  him.  Just  then  the 
noise  came  again. 

"Oh!"  exclaimed  Janet,  starting  to  run. 
"Maybe  it's  an  Indian!  Oh,  Teddy,  come 
on!" 


CHAPTER  IX 

THE  SICK  PONT 

TEDDY  MARTIN  did  not  run  away  as  Jan 
started  to  leave  the  pile  of  rocks  from  which 
the  queer  sound  had  come.  Instead  he  stood 
still  and  looked  as  hard  as  he  could  toward 
the  hole  among  the  stones — a  hole  that 
looked  a  little  like  the  cave  on  Star  Island, 
but  not  so  large. 

"Come  on,  Teddy!"  begged  Janet. 
"Please  come!" 

"I  want  to  see  what  it  is,"  he  answered. 

"Maybe  it's  something  that — that'll  bite 
you, ' '  suggested  the  little  girl.  ' '  Come  on ! " 

Just  then  the  noise  sounded  again.  It  cer- 
tainly was  a  groan. 

"There!"  exclaimed  Janet.  "I  know  it's 
an  Indian,  Ted!  Maybe  it's  one  of  the  kind 
that  took  Uncle  Frank's  ponies.  Oh,  please 
come!" 

101 


102    The  Curlytops  at  Uncle  Frank's  Ranch 

She  had  run  on  a  little  way  from  the  pile 
of  rocks,  but  now  she  stood  still,  waiting  for 
Teddy  to  follow. 

"Come  on!"  she  begged. 

Janet  did  not  want  to  go  alone. 

"It  can't  be  an  Indian,"  said  Teddy,  look- 
ing around  but  still  not  seeing  anything  to 
make  that  strange  sound. 

"It  could  so  be  an  Indian!"  declared 
Janet. 

"Well,  maybe  a  sick  Indian,"  Teddy 
admitted.  "And  if  he's  as  sick  as  all  that 
I'm  not  afraid  of  him!  I'm  going  to  see 
what  it  is." 

"Oh,  The-o-dore  Mar-tin!"  cried  Janet, 
much  as  she  sometimes  heard  her  mother  use 
her  brother's  name.  "Don't  you  dare!" 

"Why  not?"  asked  Teddy,  who  tried  to 
speak  very  bravely,  though  he  really  did  not 
feel  brave.  But  he  was  not  going  to  show 
that  before  Janet,  who  was  a  girl.  "Why 
can't  I  see  what  that  is?" 

"  'Cause  maybe — maybe  it'll — bite  you!" 
and  as  Janet  said  this  she  looked  first  at  the 
rocks  and  then  over  her  shoulder,  as  though 
something  might  come  up  behind  her  when 
she  least  expected  it. 

"Pooh !  I'm  not  afraid !"  declared  Teddy. 


The  Sick  Pony 103 

"Anyhow,  if  it  does  bite  me  it's  got  to  come 
out  of  the  rocks  first. " 

"Well,  maybe  it  will  come  out." 

"If  it  does  I  can  see  it  and  run!"  went  on 
the  little  boy. 

"Would  you  run  and  leave  me  all  alone  ?" 
asked  Janet. 

"Nope!  Course  I  wouldn't  do  that/' 
Teddy  declared.  "I'd  run  and  I'd  help  you 
run.  But  I  don't  guess  anything '11  bite  me. 
Anyhow,  Indians  don't  bite." 

"How  do  you  know?"  asked  Janet. 
"Some  Indians  are  wild.  I  heard  Uncle 
Frank  say  so,  and  wild  things  bite!" 

"But  not  Indians,"  insisted  Teddy.  "A 
Indian's  mouth,  even  if  he  is  wild,  is  just  like 
ours,  and  it  isn't  big  enough  to  bite.  You've 
got  to  have  an  awful  big  mouth  to  bite." 

"Henry  Watson  bit  you  once,  I  heard 
mother  say  so,"  declared  Janet,  as  she  and 
her  brother  still  stood  by  the  rocks  and  lis- 
tened again  for  the  funny  sound  to  come 
from  the  stones.  But  there  was  silence. 

"Well,  Henry  Watson's  got  an  awful  big 
mouth,"  remarked  Teddy.  "Maybe  he's 
wild,  and  that's  the  reason." 

"He  couldn't  be  an  Indian,  could  hef" 
Janet  went  on. 


104     The  Curlytops  at  Uncle  Frank's  Ranch 

"Course  not!"  declared  her  brother. 
"He's  a  boy,  same  as  I  am,  only  his  mouth's 
bigger.  That's  why  he  bit  me.  I  'member 
it  now." 

"Did  it  hurt?"  ttsked  Janet. 

"Yep,"  answered  her  brother.  "But  I'm 
going  in  there  and  see  what  that  noise  was. 
It  won't  hurt  me." 

Teddy  began  to  feel  that  Janet  was  asking 
so  many  questions  in  order  that  he  might 
forget  all  about  what  he  intended  to  do.  And 
he  surely  did  want  to  see  what  was  in  among 
the  rocks. 

Once  more  he  went  closer  to  them,  and 
then  the  noise  sounded  more  loudly  than 
before.  It  came  so  suddenly  that  Teddy 
and  Janet  jumped  back,  and  there  was  no 
doubt  but  what  they  were  both  frightened. 

"Oh,  I'm  not  going  to  stay  here  another 
minute ! ' '  cried  Janet.  t '  Come  on,  Ted,  let 's 
go  home!" 

"No,  wait  just  a  little !"  he  begged.    "Ill 
go  in  and  come  right  out  again — that  is  if  it's  . 
anything  that  bites.   If  it  isn't  you  can  come  , 
in  with  me." 

"No,  I'm  not  going  to  do  that !"  and  Janet 
shook  her  head  very  decidedly  to  say  "no  I" 
Once  more  she  looked  over  her  shoulder. 


The  Sick  Pony 105 

"Well,  you  don't  have  to  come  in,"  Teddy 
said.  "I'll  go  alone.  I'm  not  scared." 

Just  then  Janet  looked  across  the  fields, 
and  she  saw  a  man  riding  along  on  a  pony. 

"Oh,  Teddy!"  she  called  to  her  brother. 
"Here's  a  man!  We  can  get  him  to  go  in 
and  see  what  it  is." 

Teddy  looked  to  where  his  sister  pointed. 
Surely  enough,  there  was  a  man  going  along. 
He  was  quite  a  distance  off,  but  the  Curly- 
tops  did  not  mind  that.  They  were  fond  of 
walking. 

"Holler  at  him!"  advised  Janet.  "He'll 
hear  us  and  come  to  help  us  find  out  what's 
inhere." 

Teddy  raised  his  voice  in  the  best  shout 
he  knew  how  to  give.  He  had  strong  lungs 
and  was  one  of  the  loudest-shouting  boys 
among  his  chums. 

"Hey,  Mister!  Come  over  here!"  cried 
Teddy. 

But  the  man  kept  on  as  if  he  had  not 
heard,  as  indeed  he  had  not.  For  on  the 
prairies  the  air  is  so  clear  that  people  and 
things  look  much  nearer  than  they  really 
are.  So,  though  the  man  seemed  to  be  only 
a  little  distance  away,  he  was  more  than  a 
mile  off,  and  you  know  it  is  quite  hard  to  call 


106    The  Curlytops  at  Uncle  Frank's  Ranch 

so  as  to  be  heard  a  mile  away;  especially  if 
you  are  a  little  boy. 

Still  Teddy  called  again,  and  when  he  had 
done  this  two  or  three  times,  and  Jan  had 
helped  him,  the  two  calling  in  a  sort  of  duet, 
Teddy  said : 

"He  can't  hear  us." 

"Maybe  he's  deaf,  like  Aunt  Judy,"  said 
Janet,  speaking  of  an  elderly  woman  in  the 
town  in  which  they  lived. 

"Well,  if  he  is,  he  can't  hear  us,"  said 
Teddy;  "so  he  won't  come  to  us.  I'm  going 
in  anyhow." 

"No,  don't,"  begged  Janet,  who  did  not 
want  her  brother  to  go  into  danger.  "If  he 
can't  hear  us,  Teddy,  we  must  go  nearer. 
We  can  walk  to  meet  him." 

Teddy  thought  this  over  a  minute. 

"Yes,"  he  agreed,  "we  can  do  that.  But 
he's  a  good  way  off." 

"He's  coming  this  way,"  Janet  said,  and 
it  did  look  as  though  the  man  had  turned 
his  horse  toward  the  children,  who  stood 
near  the  pile  of  rocks  from  which  the  queer 
noises  came. 

"Come  on!"  decided  Ted,  and,  taking 
Janet's  hand,  he  and  she  walked  toward  the 
man  on  the  horse. 


The  Sick  Pony 107 

For  some  little  time  the  two  Curlytops 
tramped  over  the  green,  grassy  prairies. 
They  kept  their  eyes  on  the  man,  now  and 
then  looking  back  toward  the  rocks,  for  they 
did  not  want  to  lose  sight  either  of  them  or 
of  the  horseman. 

"I'm  going  to  holler  again,"  said  Teddy. 
"Maybe  he  can  hear  me  now.  We're 
nearer." 

So  he  stopped,  and  putting  his  hands  to 
his  mouth,  as  he  had  seen  Uncle  Frank  do 
when  he  wanted  to  call  to  a  cowboy  who  was 
down  at  a  distant  corral,  the  little  boy 
called : 

1 '  Hi  there,  Mr.  Man !   Come  here,  please  I ' ' 

But  the  man  on  the  horse  gave  no  sign 
that  he  had  heard.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  he 
had  not,  being  too  far  away,  and  the  wind 
was  blowing  from  him  toward  Teddy  and 
Jan.  If  the  wind  had  been  blowing  the 
other  way  it  might  have  carried  the  voices 
of  the  children  toward  the  man.  But  it  did 
not. 

Then  Teddy  made  a  discovery.  He  stop- 
ped, and,  shading  his  eyes  with  his  hands, 
said: 

"Jan,  that  man's  going  away  from  us 
'stid  of  coming  toward  us.  He's  getting  lit- 


108     The  Curly  tops  at  Uncle  Frank's  Ranch 

tier  all  the  while.    And  if  he  was  coming  to 
us  he'd  get  bigger." 

"Yes,  I  guess  he  would,"  admitted  the  lit- 
tle girl.  "He  is  going  away,  Teddy.  Oh, 
dear !  Now  he  can 't  help  us ! " 

Without  a  word  Teddy  started  back  to- 
ward the  rocks,  and  his  sister  followed.  He 
was  close  to  them  when  Janet  spoke  again. 

"What  are  you  going  to  do?"  she  asked. 

"I'm  going  in  there  and  see  what  that 
noise  was,"  Teddy  replied. 

"Oh,  you  mustn't!"  she  cried,  hoping  to 
turn  him  away.  But  Teddy  answered: 

"Yes,  I  am,  too !  I'm  going  to  see  what  it 
is!" 

"I'm  not!"  cried  Janet.  "I'm  going 
home.  You'd  better  come  with  me!" 

But,  though  she  turned  away  and  went  a 
short  distance  from  the  rocks  in  the  direc- 
tion she  thought  the  ranch  house  of  Ring 
Rosy  Ranch  should  be,  she  very  soon 
stopped.  She  did  not  like  going  on  alone. 
She  looked  back  at  Ted. 

Teddy  had  walked  a  little  way  toward  the 
hole  in  the  rocks.  Now  he  called  to  his  sis- 
ter. 

"The  noise  comes  from  in  here,"  he  said. 
"It's  in  this  little  cave." 


The  Sick  Pony 109 

"Are  you  going  in?"  asked  Janet,  trying 
to  pretend  she  was  not  afraid. 

"I  want  to  see  what  made  that  noise, "  de- 
clared Teddy.  Since  he  and  his  sister  had 
gone  camping  with  Grandpa  Martin  they 
were  braver  than  they  used  to  be.  Of  course, 
Ted,  being  a  year  older  than  his  sister,  was  a 
little  bolder  than  she  was. 

Janet,  not  feeling  that  she  ought  to  run 
on  home  and  leave  Teddy  there  and  yet  not 
feeling  brave  enough  to  go  close  to  the  cave 
among  the  rocks  with  him,  hardly  knew 
what  to  do.  She  walked  back  a  little  way 
and  then,  suddenly,  the  noise  came,  more 
loudly  than  at  first. 

"Oh,  there  it  goes  again!"  cried  Janet, 
once  more  running  back. 

' '  I  heard  it, ' '  Teddy  said.  ' '  It  didn  't  war- 
whoop  like  an  Indian." 

"If  he's  sick  he  couldn't,"  explained 
Janet. 

"And  if  he's  sick  he  can't  hurt  us,"  went 
on  Teddy.  "I'm  going  to  holler  at  him  and 
see  what  he  wants." 

"You'd  better  come  back  and  tell  daddy  or 
Uncle  Frank,"  suggested  Janet. 

Teddy  rather  thought  so  himself,  but  he 
did  not  like  to  give  up  once  he  had  started 


110    The  Curly  tops  at  Uncle  Frank's  Ranch 

anything.  He  felt  it  would  be  a  fine  thing 
if  he,  all  alone,  could  find  one  of  the  Indians. 

"And  maybe  it  is  one  of  those  who  took 
Uncle  Frank's  ponies,"  thought  Teddy  to 
himself. 

Again  the  groan  sounded,  this  time  not 
quite  so  loud,  and  after  it  had  died  away 
Teddy  called : 

"Who's  in  there?  What's  the  matter 
with  you?" 

No  answer  came  to  this.    Then  Ted  added : 

"If  you  don't  come  out  I'm  going  to  tell 
my  uncle  on  you.  He  owns  this  ranch. 
Come  on  out!  Who  are  you?" 

This  time  there  came  a  different  sound. 
It  was  one  that  the  Curlytops  knew  well, 
having  heard  it  before. 

"That's  a  horse  whinnying!"  cried 
Teddy. 

"Or  a  pony,"  added  Janet.  "Yes,  it  did 
sound  like  that.  Oh,  Ted,  maybe  it's  a  poor 
horse  in  there  and  he  can't  get  out!"  she 
went  on. 

Again  came  the  whinny  of  a  horse  or  a 
pony.  There  was  no  mistake  about  it  this 
time. 

"Come  on!"  cried  Teddy.  "We've  got 
to  get  him  out,  Janet.  He's  one  of  Uncle 


The  Sick  Pony 111 

Prank's  cow  ponies  and  he's  hurt  in  that 
cave.  We've  got  to  get  him  out!" 

"But  how  can  you?"  Janet  inquired. 
"It's  an  awful  little  cave,  and  I  don't  be- 
lieve a  pony  could  get  in  there." 

"A  little  pony  could,"  said  Teddy. 

Janet  looked  at  the  cave.  She  remem- 
bered that  she  had  seen  some  quite  small 
ponies,  not  only  on  Ring  Rosy  Ranch  but 
elsewhere.  The  cave  would  be  large  enough 
for  one  of  them. 

"I'm  going  in,"  said  Teddy,  as  he  stood 
at  the  mouth  of  the  hole  among  the  piled-up 
rocks. 

"He  might  kick  you,"  warned  Janet. 

"If  he's  sick  enough  to  groan  that  way 
he  can't  kick  very  hard,"  replied  Teddy. 
"Anyhow,  I'll  keep  out  of  the  way  of  his 
feet.  That's  all  you've  got  to  do,  Uncle 
Frank  says,  when  you  go  around  a  strange 
horse.  When  he  gets  to  know  you  he  won't 
kick." 

"Well,  you'd  better  be  careful,"  warned 
Janet  again. 

"Don't  you  want  to  come  in?"  Teddy 
asked  his  sister. 

"I — I  guess  not,"  she  answered.  "I'll 
watch  you  here.  Oh,  maybe  if  it 's  a  pony  we 


112     The  Curly  tops  at  Uncle  Frank's  Ranch 

can  have  him  for  ours,  Teddy!"  she  ex- 
claimed. 

"Maybe,"  he  agreed.  "I'm  going  to  see 
what  it  is." 

Slowly  he  walked  to  the  dark  place  amid 
the  rocks.  The  whinnyings  and  groanings 
sounded  plainer  to  him  than  to  Janet,  and 
Teddy  was  sure  they  came  from  a  horse  or 
a  pony.  As  yet,  though,  he  could  see  noth- 
ing. 

Then,  as  the  little  boy  stepped  out  of  the 
glaring  sun  into  the  shadow  cast  by  the 
rocks,  he  began  to  see  better.  And  in  a  little 
while  his  eyes  became  used  to  the  gloom. 

Then  he  could  see,  lying  down  on  the  dirt 
floor  of  the  cave  amid  the  rocks,  the  form  of 
a  pony.  The  animal  raised  its  head  as  Teddy 
came  in  and  gave  a  sort  of  whinnying  call, 
followed  by  a  groan. 

"Poor  pony!"  called  Ted.  "Are  you 
hurt  ?  I  'm  so  sorry !  1 11  go  get  a  doctor  for 
you!" 

"Who  are  you  talking  to?"  asked  Janet. 

She  had  drawn  nearer  the  cave. 

"There's  a  sick  pony  in  here  all  right," 
Teddy  told  his  sister.  "Come  on  in  and 
look." 

"I— I  don't  blieve  I  want  to." 


The  Sick  Pony  113 

"Pooh!  he  can't  hurt  you!  He's  sick!" 
cried  Teddy. 

So,  after  waiting  a  half  minute,  Janet 
went  in.  In  a  little  while  she,  too,  could  see 
the  pony  lying  down  in  the  cave. 

' '  Oh,  the  poor  thing ! ' '  she  cried.  '  *  Teddy, 
we've  got  to  help  him!" 

"Course  we  have,"  he  said.  "We've  got 
to  go  for  a  doctor. ' ' 

"And  get  him  a  drink,"  added  Janet. 
"When  anybody's  sick — a  pony  or  anybody 
— they  want  a  drink.  Let's  find  some  water, 
Teddy.  We  can  bring  it  to  him  in  our  hats ! ' ' 

Then,  leaving  the  sick  pony  in  the  cave, 
the  Curlytops  ran  out  to  look  for  water. 


CHAPTER  X 

A  SURPRISED  DOCTOR 

WATER  is  not  very  plentiful  on  the 
prairies.  In  fact,  it  is  so  scarce  that  often 
men  and  horses  get  very  thirsty.  But  the 
Curlytops  were  lucky  in  finding  a  spring 
among  the  rocks  on  Ring  Rosy  Ranch.  It 
was  not  a  very  large  spring,  and  it  was  well 
hidden  among  the  big  stones,  which,  is,  per- 
haps, why  it  was  not  visited  by  many  of  the 
ponies  and  cattle.  They  come  in  large  num- 
bers to  every  water-hole  they  can  find. 

Jan  and  Ted,  having  come  out  of  the  dark 
cave-like  hole,  where  the  poor,  sick  pony  lay, 
began  their  search  for  water,  and,  as  I  have 
said,  they  were  lucky  in  finding  some. 

It  was  Jan  who  discovered  it.  As  the  Cur- 
lytops were  running  about  among  the  rocks 
the  little  girl  stopped  suddenly  and  called: 

"Hark,  Teddy !" 

"  What  is  it  f"  he  asked. 
114 


A  Surprised  Doctor 115 

"I  hear  water  dripping,"  she  answered. 
"It's  over  this  way." 

She  went  straight  to  the  spring,  following 
the  sound  of  the  dripping  water,  and  found 
where  it  bubbled  up  in  a  split  in  the  rock. 
The  water  fell  into  a  little  hollow,  rocky 
basin  and  there  was  enough  for  Ted  and  his 
sister  to  fill  their  hats.  First  they  each 
took  a  drink  themselves,  though,  for  the  day 
was  warm. 

Their  hats  were  of  felt,  and  would  hold 
water  quite  well.  And  as  the  hats  were  old 
ones,  which  had  been  worn  in  the  rain  more 
than  once,  dipping  them  into  the  spring 
would  not  hurt  them. 

"I  guess  the  pony  11  be  awful  glad  to  get 
a  drink,"  said  Jan  to  her  brother. 

"I  guess  he  will,"  he  answered,  as  he 
walked  along  looking  carefully  where  he  put 
down  his  feet,  for  he  did  not  want  to  stumble 
and  spill  the  water  in  his  hat. 

"Look  out!"  exclaimed  Janet,  as  her 
brother  came  too  close  to  her.  *  '  If  you  bump 
against  me  and  make  my  arm  jiggle  you'll 
spill  my  hatful." 

"I'll  be  careful,"  said  Teddy. 

They  spilled  some  of  the  water,  for  their 
hats  were  not  as  good  as  pails  in  which  to 


116     The  Curly  tops  at  Uncle  Frank's  Ranch 

carry  the  pony's  drink.    But  they  managed 
to  get  to  the  cave  with  most  of  it. 

"You  can  give  him  the  first  drink,"  said 
Teddy  to  his  sister.  "I  found  him,  and  he's 
my  pony,  but  you  can  give  him  the  first 
drink." 

Janet  felt  that  this  was  kind  on  Teddy's 
part,  but  still  she  did  not  quite  like  what  he 
said  about  the  pony. 

"Is  he  going  to  be  all  yours?"  she  asked. 

"Well,  didn't  I  find  him  <?" 

"Yes,  but  when  I  found  a  penny  once  and 
bought  a  lollypop,  I  gave  you  half  of  it." 

"Yes,  you  did,"  admitted  Teddy,  think- 
ing of  that  time.  "But  I  can't  give  you  half 
the  pony,  can  I*?" 

"No,  I  guess  not.  But  you  could  let  me 
ride  on  him." 

"Oh,  I'll  do  that!"  exclaimed  Teddy 
quickly.  He  was  think'ng  it  would  be  a  hard 
matter  to  divide  a  live  pony  in  half. 

' '  Course  I  '11  let  you  ride  on  him ! "  he  went 
on.  "We'll  get  Uncle  Frank  to  let  us  have 
a  saddle  and  some  of  the  cowboys  can  teach 
us  to  ride.  And  I'll  let  you  feed  and  water 
him  as  much  as  you  like.  I'm  going  to  call 
him  Clipclap. "  « 

"That's  a  funny  name,"  remarked  Janet. 


A  Surprised  Doctor  117 

"It's  how  his  feet  sound  when  he  runs," 
explained  Teddy.  "Don't  you  know — clip- 
clap,  clip-clap!"  and  he  imitated  the  sound 
of  a  pony  as  best  he  could. 

"Oh,  yes!"  exclaimed  Janet.  "They  do 
go  that  way." 

"I  haven't  heard  this  one  run,"  added 
Teddy,  "  'cause  he's  sick  and  he  can't  gal- 
lop. But  I  guess  his  feet  would  make  that 
sound,  so  I'm  going  to  call  him  Clipclap." 

"It's  a  nice  name,"  agreed  Janet.  "But 
I  guess  we  better  give  him  a  drink  now.  He 
must  be  awful  thirsty." 

"He  is,"  said  Teddy.  "Hear  him 
groan?" 

The  pony  was  again  making  a  noise  that 
did  sound  like  a  groan.  He  must  be  in  pain 
the  children  thought. 

"Go  on — give  him  your  drink,  Janet," 
urged  Teddy.  "Then  I'll  give  him  mine." 

Janet  was  afraid  no  longer.  She  went 
into  the  cave  ahead  of  her  brother,  and  as 
the  pony  was  lying  down  Janet  had  to  kneel 
in  front  of  him  with  her  hat  full  of  water — 
no,  it  was  not  full,  for  some  had  spilled  out, 
but  there  was  still  a  little  in  it. 

The  pony  smelled  the  water  when  Janet 
was  yet  a  little  way  from  him,  and  raised  his 


118    The  Curly  tops  at  Uncle  Frank's  Ranch 

head  and  part  of  his  body  by  his  forefeet. 
Though  clear,  cold  water  has  no  smell  to 
us,  animals  can  smell  it  sometimes  a  long 
way  off,  and  can  find  their  way  to  it  when 
their  masters  would  not  know  where  to  go 
for  a  drink. 

"Oh,  see  how  glad  he  is  to  get  it!"  ex- 
claimed Janet,  as  the  pony  eagerly  sucked 
up  from  her  hat  the  water  in  it.  The  little 
animal  drank  very  fast,  as  if  he  had  been 
without  water  a  long  while. 

"Now  give  him  yours,  Teddy,"  Janet 
called  to  her  brother,  and  he  kneeled  down 
and  let  the  pony  drink  from  his  hat. 

"I  guess  he  wants  more,"  Janet  said  as 
the  sick  animal  sucked  up  the  last  drops 
from  Teddy 's  hat.  "It  wasn't  very  much." 

"We'll  get  more!"  Teddy  decided. 
"Then  we'll  go  for  a  doctor." 

"Where '11  we  find  one?"  Janet  asked. 

"I  know  where  to  find  him,"  Teddy  an- 
swered. 

Once  more  the  children  went  back  to  the 
spring  and  again  they  filled  their  soft  hats. 
And  once  more  the  pony  greedily  drank  up 
the  last  drops  of  water.  As  he  finished  that 
in  Ted's  hat  he  dropped  back  again  and 
stretched  out  as  if  very  tired. 


A  Surprised  Doctor  119 

"Oh,  I  hope  he  doesn't  die!"  exclaimed 
Janet. 

"So  do  I,"  added  her  brother.  "I'd  like 
to  have  a  ride  on  him  when  he  gets  well. 
Come  on,  we'll  go  find  the  doctor." 

Shaking  the  water  drops  from  their  hats 
the  Curlytops  put  them  on  and  went  out  of 
the  cave  into  the  sunlight.  Led  by  Teddy, 
Janet  followed  to  the  top  of  the  pile  of  rocks. 

"Do  you  see  that  white  house  over  there  ?" 
asked  Teddy,  pointing  to  one  down  the  road 
that  led  past  the  buildings  of  Ring  Rosy 
Ranch. 

"Yes,  I  see  it,"  Janet  answered. 

"That's  the  place  where  the  doctor  lives," 
went  on  Ted. 

"How  do  you  know?"  demanded  Janet. 

"  'Cause  I  heard  Uncle  Frank  say  so. 
Mother  asked  where  a  doctor  lived,  and 
Uncle  Frank  showed  her  that  white  house. 
I  was  on  the  porch  and  I  heard  him.  He 
said  if  ever  we  needed  a  doctor  we  only  had 
to  go  there  and  Doctor  Bond  would  come 
right  away.  He's  the  only  doctor  around 
here." 

"Then  we'd  better  get  him  for  our  pony 
Clipclap!"  exclaimed  Janet.  "Come  on, 
Teddy." 


120     The  Curly  tops  at  Uncle  Frank's  Ranch 

"If  we  had  our  goat- wagon  we  could 
ride,"  said  the  little  boy,  as  they  walked 
along  over  the  prairie  together.  "But  I 
guess  we've  got  to  walk  now." 

"Is  it  very  far?"  asked  Janet. 

"No,  not  very  far.  I've  never  been  there, 
but  you  can  easy  see  it." 

Truly  enough  the  white  house  of  Doctor 
Bond  was  in  plain  sight,  but  on  the  prairies 
the  air  is  so  clear  that  distant  houses  look 
nearer  than  they  really  are. 

So,  though  Ted  and  Janet  thought  they 
would  be  at  the  doctor's  in  about  ten  min- 
utes, they  were  really  half  an  hour  in  reach- 
ing the  place.  They  saw  the  doctor's  brass 
sign  on  his  house. 

"I  hope  he's  in,"  said  Teddy. 

As  it  happened  Doctor  Bond  was  in,  and 
he  came  to  the  door  himself  when  Teddy 
rang  the  bell,  Mrs.  Bond  being  out  in  the 
chicken  part  of  the  yard. 

"Well,  children,  what  can  I  do  for  you?" 
asked  Doctor  Bond  with  a  pleasant  smile,  as 
he  saw  the  Curlytops  on  his  porch. 

"If  you  please,"  began  Teddy,  "will  you 
come  and  cure  Clipclap?" 

"Will  I  come  and  cure  him?  Well,  I  will 
do  my  best.  I  can't  be  sure  I'll  cure  him, 


A  Surprised  Doctor  121 

though,  until  I  know  what  the  matter  is. 
What  seems  to  be  the  trouble?" 

"He's  awful  sick,"  said  Janet,  "and  he 
groans  awful." 

"Hum!    He  must  have  some  pain  then." 

"We  gave  him  some  cold  water,"  added 
Teddy. 

*  i  Yes  ?  Well,  maybe  that  was  a  good  thing 
and  maybe  it  wasn't.  I  can't  tell  until  I  see 
him.  Who  did  you  say  it  was  ? ' ' 

"Clipclap,"  replied  Teddy. 

"Your  little  brother?" 

1 1  No,  sir.  He 's  a  pony  and  he 's  in  a  cave ! ' ' 
exclaimed  Teddy. 

"What?  A  pony?"  cried  the  surprised 
doctor.  "In  a  cave?" 

"Yes,"  went  on  Janet.  "We  gave  him 
water  in  our  hats,  and  he's  going  to  be  Ted's 
and  mine  'cause  Ted  found  him.  But  will 
you  please  come  and  cure  him  so  we  can  have 
a  ride  on  him?  Don't  let  him  die." 

"Well,"  exclaimed  Doctor  Bond,  smiling 
in  a  puzzled  way  at  the  children,  "I  don't 
believe  I  can  come.  I  don't  know  anything 
about  curing  sick  ponies.  You  need  a  horse 
doctor  for  that." 

Ted  and  Janet  looked  at  one  another,  not 
knowing  what  to  say. 


CHAPTER  XI 

TROUBLE  MAKES  A  LASSO 

DOCTOR  BOND  must  have  seen  how  disap- 
pointed Teddy  and  Janet  were,  for  he  spoke 
very  kindly  as  he  asked: 

"Who  are  you,  and  where  are  you  from? 
Tell  me  about  this  sick  pony  with  the  funny 


name.' 


"He  is  Clipclap,"  answered  Teddy,  giv- 
ing the  name  he  had  picked  out  for  his  new 
pet.  "And  we  are  the  Curlytops." 

"Yes,  I  can  see  that  all  right,"  laughed 
the  doctor  with  a  look  at  the  crisp  hair  of 
the  little  boy  and  girl.  "But  where  do  you 
live?" 

"At  Uncle  Frank's  ranch,"  Janet  an- 
swered. 

"You  mean  Mr.  Frank  Barton,  of  the 
Circle  O?"  the  doctor  inquired. 

"Yes,  only  we  call  it  the  Ring  Rosy  Ranch 
now,  and  so  does  he,"  explained  Teddy. 

122 


Trouble  Makes  a  Lasso  123 

"The  Ring  Rosy  Ranch,  is  it?  Well,  I 
don't  know  but  what  that  is  a  good  name  for 
it.  Now  tell  me  about  yourselves  and  this 
pony." 

This  Teddy  and  Janet  did  by  turns,  relat- 
ing how  they  had  come  out  West  from 
Cresco,  and  what  good  times  they  were  hav- 
ing. They  even  told  about  having  gone  to 
Cherry  Farm,  about  camping  with  Grandpa 
Martin  and  about  being  snowed  in. 

"Well,  you  have  had  some  nice  adven- 
tures!" exclaimed  Doctor  Bond.  "Now 
about  this  sick " 

"Is  some  one  ill?"  enquired  Mrs.  Bond, 
coming  in  from  the  chicken  yard  just  then, 
in  time  to  hear  her  husband's  last  words. 
"Who  is  it?" 

On  the  Western  prairies  when  one  neigh- 
bor hears  of  another's  illness  he  or  she  wants 
to  help  in  every  way  there  is.  So  Mrs.  Bond, 
hearing  that  some  one  was  ill,  wanted  to  do 
her  share. 

"It's  a  pony,"  her  husband  said  with  a 
smile. 

"A  pony!"  she  exclaimed. 

"Yes,  these  Curlytop  children  found  one 
in  the  cave  among  the  rocks.  It's  on  Circle 
O  Ranch — I  should  say  Ring  Rosy,"  and  the 


124     The  Curly  tops  at  Uncle  Frank's  Ranch 

doctor  gave  Uncle  Frank's  place  the  new 
name.  "These  are  Mr.  Barton's  nephew's 
children,"  he  went  on,  for  Ted  and  Janet 
had  told  the  doctor  that  it  was  their  father's 
uncle,  and  not  theirs,  at  whose  home  they 
were  visiting.  Though,  as  a  matter  of  fact, 
Ted  and  Janet  thought  Uncle  Frank  was  as 
much  theirs  as  he  was  their  father's  and, 
very  likely,  Uncle  Frank  thought  so  him- 
self. 

"Can't  you  come  and  cure  the  sick  pony  ?" 
asked  Teddy. 

"He's  groaning  awful  hard,"  went  on 
Janet. 

"Well,  my  dear  Curlytops,"  said  Doctor 
Bond  with  a  smile,  "I'd  like  to  come,  but,  as 
I  said,  I  don't  know  anything  about  curing 
sick  horses  or  animals.  I  never  studied  that. 
It  takes  a  doctor  who  knows  about  them  to 
give  them  the  right  kind  of  medicine." 

"I  thought  all  medicine  was  alike,"  said 
Teddy.  "What  our  doctor  gives  us  is  al- 
ways bitter." 

"Well,  all  medicine  isn't  bitter,"  laughed 
Doctor  Bond,  "though  some  very  good  kinds 
are.  However,  I  wouldn't  know  whether  to 
give  this  Clipclap  pony  bitter  or  sweet  medi- 
cine." 


Trouble  Makes  a  Lasso  125 

"  Maybe  you  could  ask  one  of  the  cow- 
boys,"  said  Janet.  "I  heard  Mr.  Mason — - 
Jim,  Uncle  Frank  calls  him — telling  how  he 
cured  a  sick  horse  once." 

"Oh,  yes,  your  uncle's  foreman,  Jim  Ma- 
son, knows  a  lot  about  horses,"  said  Doctor 
Bond. 

"Then  why  don't  you  go  with  the  children 
and  get  Jim  to  help  you  find  out  what  the 
matter  is  with  their  pony?"  suggested  Mrs. 
Bond.  "There  isn't  a  regular  veterinary 
around  here,  and  they  don't  want  to  see  their 
pet  suffer.  Go  along  with  them. ' ' 

"I  believe  I  will,"  said  Doctor  Bond.  "I 
could  perhaps  tell  what's  the  matter  with  the 
pony,  and  if  I've  got  any  medicine  that  might 
cure  it,  Jim  would  know  how  to  give  it — I 
wouldn't." 

"We  just  found  the  pony  in  the  cave,"  ex- 
plained Teddy.  "We  were  taking  a  walk 
and  we  heard  him  groan. " 

"Oh,  I  see,"  said  Mrs.  Bond.  "Well,  I 
hope  the  doctor  can  make  him  well  for  you," 
she  went  on,  as  her  husband  hurried  back 
into  the  house  to  get  ready  for  the  trip. 

He  had  a  small  automobile,  and  in  this  he 
and  the  children  were  soon  hurrying  along 
the  road  toward  Ring  Rosy  Ranch.  It  was 


126    The  Curlytops  at  Uncle  Frank's  Ranch 

decided  to  go  there  first  instead  of  to  the 
cave  where  the  pony  was. 

"We'll  get  Jim  Mason  and  take  him  back 
with  us,"  said  the  doctor. 

Uncle  Frank  and  his  cowboys  had  come 
back  from  looking  after  the  lost  ponies,  but 
had  not  found  them.  He,  as  well  as  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Martin,  were  very  much  surprised  when 
the  Curlytops  came  riding  up  to  the  ranch  in 
Doctor  Bond's  automobile. 

"Well,  where  in  the  world  have  you 
been?"  cried  Mother  Martin.  "We  were 
just  beginning  to  get  worried  about  you  chil- 
dren. Where  were  you  ? ' ' 

"We  found  a  pony!"  cried  Janet. 

"And  he's  sick!"  added  Teddy. 

"And  his  name  is  Clipclap!"  exclaimed 
the  little  girl. 

"And  he's  mine  but  Janet  can  have  half 
of  him,  and  we  got  him  water  in  our  hats," 
came  from  Teddy. 

"And  we  got  the  doctor,  too !"  went  on  his 
sister. 

"Well,  I  should  say  you'd  put  in  quite  a 
busy  day,"  chuckled  Uncle  Frank.  "Now 
let's  hear  more  about  it." 

So  the  Curlytops  told,  and  Doctor  Bond 
said,  even  if  he  was  not  a  horse  doctor,  he'd 


Trouble  Makes  a  Lasso  127 

go  out  and  look  at  the  pony  in  the  cave,  if 
the  ranch  foreman  would  come  with  him. 

"Of  course  I'll  come!"  cried  Jim  Mason. 
"I  wouldn't  want  to  see  any  pony  suffer. 
And  I've  doctored  quite  a  few  of  'em,  even 
if  I  don't  know  much  about  medicine. 
Come  on,  Curlytopsl" 

Jim  Mason  jumped  on  his  own  swift  pony, 
saying  he  could  make  as  good  time  over  the 
rough  prairie  as  Doctor  Bond  could  in  his 
automobile.  The  Curlytops  rode  in  the  ma- 
chine with  the  physician.  Uncle  Frank  and 
Daddy  Martin  went  along,  for  they,  too, 
were  interested  in  the  sick  pony. 

It  did  not  take  long  to  get  to  the  cave  amid 
the  rocks.  Jim  Mason's  horse  reached  there 
ahead  of  the  automobile,  and  the  foreman 
had  gone  into  the  cave  and  come  out  again 
by  the  time  the  Curlytops  were  getting  out 
of  the  machine. 

"Well,  he's  a  pretty  sick  pony  all  right," 
said  the  foreman  of  the  cowboys  of  Ring 
Rosy  Ranch. 

"Can  you  make  him  better?"  asked 
Teddy  anxiously. 

"I  don't  know  whether  we  can  or  not.  It 
all  depends  on  what  sort  of  medicine  the 
doctor  has  for  curing  poison." 


128     The  Curlytops  at  Uncle  Frank's  Ranch 

"Has  the  pony  been  poisoned?"  asked 
Uncle  Frank. 

"Looks  that  way,"  replied  the  foreman. 
"I  guess  he  must  have  drunk  some  water 
that  had  a  bit  of  poisoned  meat  in  it.  You 
see,"  he  went  on  to  the  doctor,  Mr.  Martin 
and  the  children,  "we  have  a  lot  of  wolves 
and  other  pesky  animals  around  here. 
They're  too  tricky  to  catch  in  traps  or  shoot, 
so  we  poison  'em  by  putting  a  white  powder 
in  some  meat.  Sometimes  the  wolves  will 
drag  a  piece  of  the  poisoned  meat  to  a  spring 
of  water,  and  they  must  have  done  it  this 
time.  Then  the  pony  drank  the  water  and 
it  made  him  sick." 

"Will  he  die?"  asked  Janet. 

"Well,  I'll  do  my  best  to  save  him,"  said 
Doctor  Bond,  opening  the  black  case  of  med- 
icines he  carried.  "But  how  can  you  give 
medicine  to  a  horse,  Jim?  You  can't  put  it 
on  his  tongue,  can  you?" 

"No,  but  I've  got  a  long-necked  bottle  on 
purpose  for  that,  and  it's  easy  to  pour  it  out 
of  that  bottle  down  a  pony's  throat.  You 
mix  up  the  dose,  Doc,  and  I'll  give  it  to  the 
little  animal." 

This  was  done,  but  the  Curlytops  were 
not  allowed  in  the  cave  when  the  men  were 


Trouble  Makes  a  Lasso  129 

working  over  the  pony.  But,  in  a  little  while, 
the  foreman  and  Doctor  Bond  came  out. 

"Well,  I  guess  your  pony  will  get  better," 
said  the  physician.  "Jim  gave  him  the 
medicine  that  will  get  the  poison  out  of  him, 
and  in  a  day  or  so  he'll  be  able  to  walk.  But 
you'll  have  to  leave  him  in  the  cave  until 
then." 

"Can't  we  take  him  home?"  Teddy  cried. 

"Oh,  no!"  exclaimed  the  foreman.  "But 
I'll  send  one  of  the  men  over  with  some 
straw  to  make  him  a  soft  bed,  and  we'll  see 
that  he  has  water  to  drink.  He  won't  want 
anything  to  eat  until  he  gets  better.  The 
doctor  will  come  to  see  him  to-morrow. 
Won't  you'?"  he  went  on  to  Doctor  Bond. 

"Indeed  I  will!"  promised  the  doctor,  for 
he  had  taken  a  great  liking  to  the  Curlytops. 

"Whose  pony  is  it?"  asked  Daddy  Mar- 
tin. 

"It's  mine!"  exclaimed  Teddy  quickly. 
"Mine  and  Jan's.  We  found  him  and  his 
name's  Clipclap." 

"Well,  that's  a  good  name  for  a  pony," 
said  his  father.  "But  still  I  don't  know 
that  you  can  claim  every  pony  you  find. 
This  one  may  belong  to  Uncle  Frank." 

"No,  it  isn't  one  of  my  brand,"  said  the 


130    The  Curlytops  at  Uncle  Frank's  Ranch 

owner  of  Ring  Rosy  Ranch.  " It's  a  strange 
pony  thai  must  have  wandered  into  this  cave 
after  he  found  he  was  poisoned.  I  reckon 
the  poor  thing  thought  he'd  die  in  there,  and 
maybe  he  would  if  the  children  hadn't  found 
him." 

"He  couldn't  have  lived  much  longer 
without  attention,"  said  Doctor  Bond. 

"Then  did  we  save  his  life?"  asked 
Teddy. 

"You  did,  by  getting  the  doctor  in  time," 
answered  his  father. 

"Then  can't  he  be  our  pony?"  asked  the 
little  boy. 

"Yes,  I  guess  he  can,"  answered  Uncle 
Frank.  "If  nobody  comes  to  claLi*  him  you 
children  may  have  him.  And  if  anyone  does 
come  after  him  I'll  give  you  another.  I 
was  going  to  give  you  each  a  pony,  anyhow, 
as  soon  as  you  got  used  to  the  ranch,  and 
I'll  do  it.  If  Ted  wants  to  keep  Clipclap, 
as  he  calls  him,  I'll  give  Janet  another." 

"Oh,  won't  I  just  love  him!"  cried  the 
little  girl. 

"And  I'll  love  Clipclap!"  said  Teddy. 

There  was  nothing  more  that  could  be 
done  just  then  for  the  sick  pony,  so  the 
Curlytops  and  the  others  left  him  in  the 


Trouble  Makes  a  Lasso  131 

cave.  The  children  were  glad  he  did  not 
groan  any  more.  A  little  later  Jim  Mason 
sent  one  of  the  cowboys  with  some  clean 
straw  to  make  a  bed  for  the  little  horse,  and 
a  pail  of  the  cool,  spring  water  was  put 
where  the  animal  could  reach  it. 

For  two  days  the  pony  stayed  in  the  cave, 
and  then  Doctor  Bond  said  he  was  much 
better  and  could  be  led  to  the  ranch.  Uncle 
Frank  took  Ted  and  Janet  out  to  the  rocks 
to  bring  back  their  pet,  but  he  had  to  walk 
very  slowly,  for  he  was  still  weak  from  the 
poison. 

"And  he'll  have  to  stay  in  the  stable  for  a 
week  or  so,"  said  Jim  Mason  when  Clipclap 
was  safely  at  the  ranch.  "After  that  he  will 
be  strong  enough  to  ride.  While  you  Curly- 
tops  are  waiting  I'll  give  you  a  few  riding 
lessons." 

"And  will  you  show  me  how  to  lasso?" 
begged  Teddy. 

"Yes,  of  course.  You'll  never  be  a  cow- 
boy, as  you  say  you're  going  to  be,  unless 
you  can  use  a  rope.  I'll  show  you." 

So  the  children's  lessons  began.  Uncle 
Frank  picked  out  a  gentle  pony  for  them  on 
which  to  learn  how  to  ride,  and  this  pony 
was  to  be  Jan's.  She  named  him  Star  Face, 


132     The  Curly  tops  at  Uncle  Frank's  Ranch 

for  he  had  a  white  mark,  like  a  star,  on  his 
forehead. 

On  this  pony  Jan  and  Ted  took  turns  rid- 
ing until  they  learned  to  sit  in  the  saddle 
alone  and  let  the  pony  trot  along.  Of  course 
he  did  not  go  very  fast  at  first. 

"And  I  want  to  learn  to  lasso  when  I'm 
on  his  back,"  said  Teddy. 

"You'd  first  better  learn  to  twirl  the  rope 
while  you're  on  the  ground,"  said  Jim 
Mason,  and  then  the  foreman  began  giving 
the  little  boy  some  simple  lessons  in  this, 
using  a  small  rope,  for  Teddy  could  not 
handle  the  big  ones  the  cowboys  used. 

In  a  few  days  Teddy  could  fling  the  coils 
of  his  rope  and  make  them  settle  over  a  post. 
Of  course  he  had  to  stand  quite  close,  but 
even  the  cowboys,  when  they  learned,  had 
to  do  that  the  foreman  said. 

"Well,  what  are  you  going  to  do  now?" 
Teddy's  father  asked  the  little  boy  one  day, 
as  he  started  out  from  the  house  with  a  small 
coil  of  rope  on  one  arm,  as  he  had  seen  the 
cowboys  carry  their  lariats.  "What  are  you 
going  to  do,  Ted?" 

"Oh,  I'm  going  to  lasso  some  more,"  was 
the  answer. 

"Why  don't  you  try  something  else  be- 


Trouble  Makes  a  Lasso  133 

sides  a  post?"  asKed  one  of  Uncle  Frank's 
men,  as  he,  too,  noticed  Teddy.  "Throwing 
a  rope  over  a  post  is  all  right  to  start,  but  if 
you  want  to  be  a  real  cowboy  you'll  have  to 
learn  to  lasso  something  that's  running  on 
its  four  legs.  That's  what  most  of  our  las- 
soing is — roping  ponies  or  steers,  and  they 
don't  very  often  stand  still  for  you,  the  way 
the  post  does." 

' '  Yes, ' '  agreed  Ted, ' 1 1  guess  so.  I  '11  learn 
to  lasso  something  that  runs." 

His  father  paid  little  more  attention  to 
the  boy,  except  to  notice  that  he  went  out  into 
the  yard,  where  he  was  seen,  for  a  time,  tos- 
ing  the  coils  of  rope  over  the  post.  Then 
Jan  came  along,  and,  as  soon  as  he  saw  her, 
Teddy  asked: 

"Jan,  will  you  do  something  for  me?" 

"What?"  she  inquired,  not  being  too 
ready  to  make  any  promises.  Sometimes 
Teddy  got  her  to  say  she  would  do  things, 
and  then,  when  he  had  her  promise,  he  would 
tell  her  something  she  did  not  at  all  want 
to  do.  So  Jan  had  learned  to  be  careful. 

"What  do  you  want  to  do,  Teddy?"  she 
asked. 

"Play  cowboy,"  he  answered. 

"Girls  can't  be  cowboys,"    Janet  said. 


134     The  Curlytops  at  Uncle  Frank's  Ranch 

"Well,  I  don't  want  you  to  be  one,"  went 
on  Teddy.  "I'll  be  the  cowboy." 

1 '  Then  what  '11 1  be  V '  asked  Jan.  ' '  That 
won't  be  any  fun,  for  you  to  do  that  and  me 
do  nothing!" 

"Oh,  I've  got  something  for  you  to  do," 
said  Teddy,  and  he  was  quite  serious  over  it. 
"You  see,  Jan,  I've  got  to  learn  to  lasso 
something  that  moves.  The  post  won't 
move,  but  you  can  run. " 

"Do  you  mean  run  and  play  tag?"  Jan 
asked. 

Teddy  shook  his  head. 

"You  make  believe  you're  a  wild  cow  or 
a  pony,"  he  explained,  "and  you  run  along 
in  front  of  me.  Then  I'll  throw  my  rope 
around  your  head,  or  around  your  legs,  and 
I'll  pull  on  it  and  you " 

"Yes,  and  I'll  fall  down  and  get  all  dirt !" 
finished  Jan.  "Ho!  I  don't  call  that  any 
fun  for  me!" 

"Well,  I  won't  lasso  you  very  hard," 
promised  Ted;  "and  I've  got  to  learn  to 
throw  my  rope  at  something  that  moves,  the 
cowboys  say,  else  I  can't  ever  be  a  real  wild- 
wester.  Go  on,  Jan !  Run  along  and  let  me 
lasso  you!" 

Jan  did  not  want  to,  but  Teddy  teased  her 


Trouble  Makes  a  Lasso  135 

so  hard  that  she  finally  gave  in  and  said  she 
would  play  she  was  a  pony  for  a  little  while. 
Teddy  wanted  her  to  be  a  wild  steer,  but  she 
said  ponies  could  run  faster  than  the  cattle, 
and  Jan  was  a  good  runner. 

"And  if  I  run  fast  it  will  be  harder  for 
you  to  lasso  me,"  she  said,  "and  that's  good 
practice  for  you,  same  as  it  is  good  for  me 
when  I  practice  my  music  scales  fast,  only 
I  don't  do  it  very  much." 

"Well,  you  run  along  and  111  lasso  you," 
said  Teddy.  "Only  we'd  better  go  around 
to  the  back  of  the  house.  Maybe  they 
wouldn't  like  to  see  me  doing  it." 

Who;  the  cowboys?"  asked  his  sister. 
No,  father  and  mother,"  replied  Teddy. 
I  don't  guess  they'd  want  me  to  play  this 
game,  but  I  won't  hurt  you.    Come  on." 

The  little  boy  and  girl — Teddy  carrying 
his  small  lasso — went  out  to  a  field  not  far 
from  the  house,  and  there  they  played  cow- 
boy. As  they  had  planned,  Teddy  was  the 
cowboy  and  Janet  the  wild  pony,  and  she 
ran  around  until  she  was  tired.  Teddy  ran 
after  her,  now  and  then  throwing  the  coils 
of  rope  at  her. 

Sometimes  the  lasso  settled  over  her  head, 
and  then  the  little  boy  would  pull  it  tight, 


(4 
II 


136     The  Curlytops  at  Uncle  Frank's  Ranch 

but  he  was  careful  not  to  pull  too  hard  for 
fear  he  might  hurt  Jan.  Once  the  rope  went 
around  her  legs,  and  that  time  Teddy  gave  a 
sudden  yank. 

"Oh,  I'M  falling!"  cried  Jan,  and  she 
went  down  in  a  heap. 

"That's  fine!"  cried  Teddy.  "That's 
regular  wild- wester  cowboy!  Do  it  again, 
Jan!" 

"No!  It  hurts!"  objected  the  little  girl. 
"You  pulled  me  so  hard  I  fell  down." 

"I  didn't  mean  to,"  said  Teddy.  "But  I 
can  lasso  good,  can't  I?" 

"Yes;  pretty  good,"  his  sister  agreed. 
"But  you  can't  lasso  me  any  more.  I  don't 
want  to  play.  I'm  going  to  the  house." 

"Did  I  hurt  you  much?"  Teddy  asked. 

"Well,  not  such  an  awful  lot,"  admitted 
Jan.  "I  fell  on  some  soft  grass,  though,  or 
you  would  have.  Anyhow,  I'm  going  in." 

Teddy  looked  a  little  sad  for  a  minute,  and 
then  he  cried : 

1 1  Oh,  I  know  what  I  can  do !  You  stay  and 
watch  me,  Jan." 

"What  are  you  going  to  do?"  she  asked. 

"You'll  see,"  he  answered.  "Here,  you 
hold  my  lasso  a  minute." 

Teddy  ran  off  across  the  field,  and  when 


Trouble  Makes  a  Lasso  137 

he  came  back  to  where  his  sister  was  still 
holding  the  coil  of  rope  the  Curlytop  boy 
was  leading  by  a  rope  a  little  calf,  one  of  sev- 
eral that  were  kept  in  the  stable  and  fed 
milk  from  a  pail. 

"What  are  you  going  to  do,  Teddy  Mar- 
tin?" asked  the  little  girl. 

"I'm  going  to  play  he's  a  wild  steer,"  an- 
swered Teddy. 

"Oh,  The-o-dore  Mar-tin!"  cried  Janet, 
much  as  her  mother  might  have  done. 
"You're  not  going  to  lasso  Mm,  are  you?" 

"I  am — if  I  can, "  and  Teddy  spoke  slowly. 
He  was  not  quite  sure  he  could. 

The  calf  came  along  easily  enough,  for 
Teddy  had  petted  it  and  fed  it  several  times. 

"He's  awful  nice,"  said  Janet.  "You 
won't  hurt  him,  will  you?" 

"Course  not!"  cried  Teddy.  "I'll  only 
lasso  him  a  little.  Now  you  come  and  hold 
him  by  the  rope  that 's  on  his  neck,  Jan.  And 
when  I  tell  you  to  let  go,  why,  you  let  go. 
Then  he'll  run  and  I  can  lasso  him.  I've  got 
to  lasso  something  that's  running,  else  it 
isn't  real  wild- wester. " 

Jan  was  ready  enough  to  play  this  game. 
She  took  hold  of  the  calf's  rope,  and  Teddy 
got  his  lasso  ready.  But  just  as  the  little 


138 


fellow  was  about  to  tell  his  sister  to  let  the 
calf  loose,  along  came  Uncle  Frank  and  he 
saw  what  was  going  on. 

"Oh,  my,  Teddy!"  cried  the  ranchman. 
"You  mustn't  do  that,  Curlytop !  The  little 
calf  might  fall  and  break  a  leg.  Wait  until 
you  get  bigger  before  you  try  to  lasso  any- 
thing that 's  alive.  Come  on,  we  11  have  other 
fun  than  this.  I'm  going  to  drive  into  town 
and  you  Curlytops  can  come  with  me." 

So  the  calf  was  put  back  in  the  stable,  and 
Teddy  gave  up  lassoing  for  that  day.  He 
and  Jan  had  fun  riding  to  town  with  Uncle 
Frank,  who  bought  them  some  sticks  of  pep- 
permint candy. 

Baby  William  had  his  own  fun  on  the 
ranch.  His  mother  took  care  of  him  most 
of  the  time,  leaving  Janet  and  Teddy  to  do 
as  they  pleased.  She  wanted  them  to  learn 
to  ride,  and  she  knew  they  could  not  do  it 
and  take  care  of  their  little  brother. 

But  Trouble  had  his  own  ways  of  having 
fun.  He  often  watched  Teddy  throwing  the 
lasso,  and  one  afternoon,  when  Ted  had 
finished  with  his  rope  and  left  it  lying  on  a 
bench  near  the  house,  Trouble  picked  up  the 
noose. 

"Me  lasso,  too,"  he  said  to  himself. 


Trouble  Makes  a  Lasso  139 

Just  what  he  did  no  one  knew,  but  not 
long  after  Teddy  had  laid  aside  the  lariat, 
as  the  lasso  is  sometimes  called,  loud 
squawks,  Growings  and  cackles  from  the 
chicken  yard  were  heard. 

"What  in  the  world  can  be  the  matter 
with  my  hens?"  cried  Aunt  Millie. 

Ted  and  Janet  ran  out  to  see.  What  they 
saw  made  them  want  to  laugh,  but  they  did 
not  like  to  do  it. 

Trouble  had  lassoed  the  big  rooster ! 


CHAPTER  XII 

THE  BUCKING  BRONCO 

WITH  a  small  rope  around  the  neck  of  the 
crowing  rooster — which  could  not  crow  as 
loudly  as  it  had  before,  because  it  was  nearly 
choked — Trouble  was  dragging  the  fowl 
along  after  him  as  he  ran  across  the  yard. 

"Trouble!  Trouble!"  cried  Aunt  Millie. 
"What  are  you  doing?" 

"Playin'  cowboy!"  was  his  answer.  "I 
lasso  rooster  wif  my  rope,  like  Teddy 
catches  post." 

"Oh,  you  mustn't  do  that!"  cried  Aunt 
Millie,  as  she  ran  after  the  small  boy  and 
the  dragging  rooster. 

"Cock-a  doodle-do!"  crowed  the  rooster, 
or,  rather,  it  tried  to  crow  that  way,  but  it 
would  get  only  about  half  of  it  out  and  then 
Trouble  would  pull  the  rope  tight  about  the 
fowl's  neck  and  the  crow  would  be  shut  off 
suddenly. 


TROUBLE  HAD    LASSOED  THE  BIG   ROOSTER! 

The  Curlytops  at   Uncle  Frank's  Ranch  Page  139 


The  Bucking  Bronco  14-1 

"Gid-dap,  pony!"  cried  Baby  William, 
trotting  along  on  his  short,  fat  legs,  making- 
believe,  as  he  often  did,  that  he  was  riding 
horseback.  "Gid-dap!  I  lasso  a  rooster,  I 
did!" 

"Yes,  and  you'll  kill  the  poor  thing  if 
you're  not  careful,"  panted  Aunt  Millie,  as 
she  raced  after  the  little  fellow  and  caught 
him.  Then  she  gently  pulled  the  rooster  to 
her  by  means  of  the  rope,  and  took  it  off: 
the  fowl's  neck. 

The  rooster  was  bedraggled  from  having 
been  dragged  through  the  dust  and  the  dirt, 
and  it  was  so  dizzy  from  having  been 
whirled  around  by  Trouble  that  it  could 
hardly  stand  up. 

Aunt  Millie  smoothed  out  its  feathers  and 
got  it  some  water.  The  rooster  drank  a  lit- 
tle and  seemed  to  feel  better.  Then  it  ran  off 
to  join  the  other  roosters  and  the  cackling 
hens  that  had  been  watching  what  Trouble 
did,  doubtless  wondering  what  had  gotten 
into  the  lassoed  rooster  to  make  it  run 
around  the  way  it  did  on  the  end  of  a  rope. 
But  it  was  Baby  William  who  made  all  the 
trouble. 

"You  must  never  do  that  again,"  said 
Mrs.  Martin  when  she  came  out  of  the  ranch 


142     The  Curlytops  at  Uncle  Frank's  Ranch 

house  and  heard  what  her  little  boy  had 
done.  "That  was  very  wrong,  William,  to 
lasso  the  poor  rooster  and  drag  it  about  with 
a  rope  around  its  neck." 

"I  not  do  it  any  more,"  promised  Trou- 
ble. "But  I  want  a  lasso  like  Teddy." 

"No,  you're  not  big  enough  for  that,"  his 
mother  said.  "You  must  wait  until  you  are 
a  little  older.  Don't  bother  the  chickens  any 
more." 

"No,  I  only  get  de  eggs,"  promised  Baby 
William. 

"And  please  don't  lasso  them,  or  you'll 
break  them,"  put  in  Aunt  Millie ;  but  Janet 
thought  her  "eyes  laughed,"  as  she  later  told 
Teddy. 

"No  more  lasso?"  asked  Trouble,  looking 
at  the  rope  his  aunt  had  taken  from  the 
rooster's  long  neck. 

"No  more  lasso !"  exclaimed  Mrs.  Barton, 
trying  not  to  smile,  for  the  sight  of  the 
rooster,  caught  the  way  he  had  been,  made 
even  the  older  folks  want  to  laugh.  Ted  and 
Janet  did  laugh,  but  they  did  not  let  Trouble 
see  them.  If  he  had  he  might  have  thought 
he  had  done  something  smart  or  cute,  and 
he  would  try  it  over  again  the  first  chance  he 
had.  So  they  had  to  pretend  to  be  sharp 


The  Bucking  Bronco  143 

with  him.  The  rooster  was  not  hurt  by  be- 
ing lassoed. 

Afterward  Trouble  told  how  he  did  it. 
With  the  slip-noose  of  the  rope  in  one 
hand  and  holding  the  rope's  end  in  the  other, 
Baby  William  walked  quietly  up  behind  the 
rooster  and  tossed  the  loop  over  its  head. 
Then  he  pulled  it  tight  and  started  to  run, 
as  he  had  seen  the  cow  ponies  galloping  to 
pull  down  a  horse  or  steer  that  needed  to  be 
branded  or  marked  with  the  sign  of  the  Ring 
Rosy  Ranch.  The  rooster  was  very  tame, 
often  eating  out  of  Aunt  Millie's  hand,  so 
he  was  not  afraid  to  let  Trouble  come  up 
quite  close  to  him. 

One  day,  about  a  week  after  the  Curly- 
tops  had  found  Clipclap  in  the  cave,  Jim 
Mason  said  he  thought  the  pony  was  well 
enough  to  be  ridden.  Clipclap  was  brought 
out  in  the  yard  and  Teddy  and  Janet  went 
up  to  him. 

The  pony  put  his  nose  close  to  them  and 
rubbed  his  head  against  their  outstretched 
hands. 

"See,  he  knows  us!"  cried  Janet. 

"And  I  guess  he's  thanking  us  for  bring- 
ing him  water,"  added  her  brother. 

"And  getting  the  doctor  to  cure  him  of 


144     The  Curly  tops  at  Uncle  Frank's  Ranch 

poison,"  went  on  the  little  girl.  "I'm  glad 
he  likes  you,  Teddy. " 

"And  your  pony  likes  you,  too,  Janet," 
said  the  little  boy. 

Janet's  pony,  Star  Face,  certainly  seemed 
to  like  her.  For  he  came  when  she  called 
him  and  took  lumps  of  sugar  from  her  hand. 
He  liked  Teddy,  too.  In  fact  both  ponies 
were  very  pretty  and  friendly  and  it  would 
be  hard  to  say  which  was  the  better.  Janet 
liked  hers  and  Teddy  liked  his,  and  that  is 
the  best  thing  I  can  say  about  them. 

No  one  came  to  claim  Clipclap.  Though 
Uncle  Frank  spoke  to  a  number  of  other 
ranchmen  about  finding  the  sick  pony,  none 
of  them  had  ever  seen  Clipclap  before  as 
far  as  they  knew.  If  he  belonged  to  some 
other  ranch  it  must  have  been  far  away. 

"So  you  may  feel  that  it  is  all  right  for 
you  to  keep  your  pony,  Curlytop,"  said 
Uncle  Frank  to  Teddy.  "If  anyone  should, 
later,  say  it  belongs  to  him,  and  can  prove  it, 
we'll  give  it  up,  of  course." 

"But  I  don't  want  to  give  Clipclap  up!" 
Teddy  cried. 

"Well,  maybe  you  won't  have  to, "  said  his 
father.  "But  you  must  not  keep  what  is  not 
yours.  Anyhow,  if  you  should  have  to  give 


The  Bucking  Bronco  145 

up  Clipclap  Uncle  Frank  will  give  you  an- 
other pony." 

"There  couldn't  be  any  as  nice  as  Clipclap 
— not  even  Janet's  Star  Face,"  declared 
Teddy. 

He  felt  bad  at  the  thought  of  having  to 
give  up  his  pet,  but  there  was  no  need  to, 
for  as  the  weeks  went  on  no  one  came  to 
claim  Clipclap,  and  Teddy  counted  him  as 
his  own. 

By  this  time  Teddy  and  Janet  had  learned 
to  ride  quite  well  for  such  little  children. 
They  knew  how  to  sit  in  a  saddle,  up  straight 
like  an  arrow,  and  not  slouched  down  or  all 
humped  up  "like  a  bag  of  meal,"  as  Uncle 
Frank  was  wont  to  say.  They  knew  how  to 
guide  their  ponies  by  pulling  on  the  reins  to 
left  or  to  right,  according  to  which  way  they 
wanted  to  go. 

Of  course  they  could  not  ride  very  fast 
yet,  and  Mother  Martin  was  just  as  glad 
they  could  not,  for  she  was  afraid,  if  they 
did,  they  might  fall  off  and  get  hurt.  But 
Teddy  and  Janet  were  careful,  and  they 
knew  how  to  sit  in  the  saddle  with  their  feet 
in  the  stirrups. 

"They're  getting  to  be  good  little  riders," 
said  Jim  Mason  to  Uncle  Frank  one  day. 


146 


"I'll  take  'em  with  me  the  next  time  I  go 
for  a  short  ride." 

"Maybe  we  could  find  the  bad  Indians 
that  took  your  horses,  Uncle  Frank,"  said 
Teddy. 

"Well,  I  wish  you  could,"  said  the  owner 
of  Ring  Rosy  Ranch. 

The  cowboys  had  not  been  able  to  get  back 
the  stolen  horses  nor  find  the  Indians  who 
had  run  them  off.  Other  ranches,  too,  had 
been  robbed  and  a  number  of  head  of  horses 
and  cattle  had  been  driven  away. 

"We've  looked  all  over  for  those  In- 
dians," said  Uncle  Frank,  "but  we  can't 
find  'em.  If  you  Curlytops  can,  I'll  give 
you  each  another  pony." 

"I'd  like  Clipclap  best  though,"  an- 
nounced Teddy. 

"What  could  we  do  with  two?"  asked 
Janet. 

"Oh,  every  cowboy  or  cowgirl,  for  that 
matter,  has  more  than  one  horse  when  he 
can,"  said  Jim  Mason.  "Then  if  one  gets 
lame  he  has  another  to  ride.  But  don't  you 
Curlytops  go  off  by  yourselves  looking  for 
those  bad  Indians!"  he  warned  them. 

"We  won't,"  promised  Teddy.  "Well 
only  go  with  you  or  Uncle  Frank." 


The  Bucking  Bronco  147 

"We  don't  find  them,"  said  the  ranch 
owner.  "I  guess  the  Indians  sold  the  horses 
and  cattle  and  then  they  hid  themselves. 
Well,  I  hope  they  don't  take  any  more  of 
my  animals." 

But  there  was  more  trouble  ahead  for 
Uncle  Frank. 

The  Curlytops  had  a  fine  time  on  his 
ranch,  though.  When  Teddy  and  Janet 
were  not  riding,  they  were  watching  the 
cowboys  at  work  or  play,  for  the  men  who 
looked  after  Uncle  Frank's  cattle  had  good 
times  as  well  as  hard  work. 

They  would  often  come  riding  and  swoop- 
ing in  from  the  distant  fields  after  their 
day's  work,  yelling  and  shouting  as  well  as 
firing  off  their  big  revolvers.  But  neither 
the  Curlytops  nor  their  mother  were  as 
frightened  at  this  play  of  the  cowboys  as 
they  had  been  at  first. 

1  'I  wish  I  had  a  gun  that  would  go  bang," 
said  Teddy  one  day. 

"Oh,  The-o-dore  Mar-tin!"  cried  his  sis- 
ter, after  the  fashion  of  her  mother.  "If 
you  had  I'd  never  go  riding  ponyback  with 
you — never  again!  I'd  be  afraid  of  you! 
So  there!" 

"Well,  so  would  the  Indians!"  said  Ted. 


However  he  knew  he  was  too  small  to  have 
a  firearm,  so  he  did  not  tease  for  it. 

Sometimes,  when  Uncle  Frank  or  his 
foreman,  Jim  Mason,  went  on  short  rides 
around  the  ranch,  Teddy  and  Janet  went 
with  them  on  their  ponies.  Star  Face  and 
Clipclap  were  two  sturdy  little  animals,  and 
were  gentle  with  the  children. 

"Come  on!  Let's  have  a  race!"  Ted 
would  call. 

"All  right.  But  don't  go  too  fast,"  Janet 
would  answer,  and  they  would  trot  off,  the 
ponies  going  as  fast  as  was  safe  for  the 
children. 

Teddy  generally  won  these  races,  for 
Janet,  who  was  very  tender-hearted,  did  not 
like  to  make  her  pony  go  as  fast  as  it  could 
go.  Often,  perhaps,  if  Janet  had  urged  Star 
Face  on  she  would  have  beaten  her  brother, 
for  Clipclap  still  felt  a  little  weak,  now  and 
then,  from  his  illness. 

One  day  a  cowboy  came  in,  riding  hard 
from  a  far-off  part  of  the  ranch. 

"I  guess  something  is  the  matter,  Jan," 
said  Teddy,  as  they  saw  the  horseman  gallop 
past. 

"What?"  she  asked  as  they  noticed  him 
talking  to  the  foreman. 


The  Bucking  Bronco  149 

"Maybe  he's  found  the  Indians  that  took 
Uncle  Frank's  horses, "  her  brother  an- 
swered. 

The  children  drew  near  enough  to  hear 
what  the  cowboy  and  the  foreman  were  talk- 
ing about. 

"More  horses  gone!"  exclaimed  Jim 
Mason.  "Well,  we'll  surely  have  to  get 
after  those  Indians;  that's  all  there  is  about 
it!" 

"More  horses  stolen?"  asked  Daddy  Mar- 
tin, coming  out  just  then. 

"Yes,"  answered  Jim  Mason.  "A  lot  of 
good  ones.  I  guess  more  Indians  must  have 
run  away  from  the  reservation.  We'll  have 
to  hunt  them  down!" 

"Oh,  I  wish  I  could  go!"  sighed  Teddy. 
"I'd  like  to  be  an  Indian  fighter." 

"You'll  have  to  grow  a  lot  bigger,"  said 
his  uncle,  with  a  laugh. 

Uncle  Frank  and  some  of  the  cowboys 
rode  over  the  prairie,  trying  to  find  the  steal- 
ing Indians,  but  they  could  not.  Nor  could 
they  find  the  missing  horses,  either. 

"It's  a  good  thing  Uncle  Frank  has  lots 
of  cattle,"  said  Teddy  that  night  when  the 
cowboys  came  back  to  the  ranch  house,  not 
having  found  the  horse  thieves.  "If  he 


150 


didn't  have  he'd  be  poor  when  the  Indians 
take  his  animals." 

"He'll  be  poor  if  the  Indians  keep  on  the 
way  they  have  been  doing,"  said  Aunt 
Millie.  ' 1 1  hope  he  can  catch  the  bad  men ! ' ' 

Ted  and  Janet  hoped  so  too,  but  they  did 
not  see  how  they  could  help,  though  Teddy 
wanted  to.  However  he  was  kept  near  the 
house. 

"Come  on  and  see  the  bucking  bronco, 
Curlytops!"  called  Uncle  Frank  to  Teddy 
and  Janet  one  day. 

"What  is  it?"  asked  the  little  girl. 

"A  bucking  bronco  jumps  up  in  the  air 
with  all  four  feet  off  the  ground  at  once, 
and  comes  down  as  stiff  as  a  board,"  ex- 
plained Uncle  Frank.  "That  isn't  nice  for 
the  man  that's  in  the  saddle,  though  the  cow- 
boys know  how  to  ride  most  bucking  bron- 
cos, that  are  really  sort  of  wild  horses." 

"I'd  like  to  see  'em!"  cried  Teddy. 

"You  may,"  promised  his  uncle.  "The 
cowboys  have  a  bucking  bronco  out  in  the 
corral  and  they're  taking  turns  trying  to 
ride  him.  Come  along  if  you  want  to  see 
the  fun." 

It  was  fun,  but  some  hard  work,  too,  for 
one  after  another  the  cowboys  fell  out  of  the 


The  Bucking  Bronco  151 

saddle  of  the  bucking  bronco  as  they  tried 
to  ride  him. 

Now  and  then  one  would  stay  on  the  wild 
animal's  back  longer  than  had  any  of  his 
friends,  not  falling  when  the  bronco  leaped 
up  in  the  air  and  came  down  with  his  legs  as 
stiff  as  those  of  an  old  fashioned  piano. 

"Ki-yi!  Yippi-i-yip ! "  yelled  the  cow- 
boys, as  they  dashed  about  on  the  bucking 
bronco,  swinging  their  hats  or  their  quirts, 
which  are  short-handled  whips,  in  the  air 
over  their  heads. 

They  did  not  mind  being  thrown,  and  each 
one  tried  to  ride  the  wild  bronco.  None 
could  stay  in  the  saddle  more  than  a  few 
minutes  at  a  time  though. 

"Well,  I  guess  I'll  have  to  ride  that  ani- 
mal myself,"  said  Jim  Mason,  when  all  the 
other  cowboys  had  tried  and  had  fallen  or 
jumped  from  the  saddle.  The  foreman  was 
a  fine  rider.  "Yes,  I  guess  I  can  ride  that 
bronco,"  he  said. 

"Give  the  pony  a  chance  to.  get  his 
breath,"  suggested  one  of  the  cowboys.  "I 
don't  reckon  you  can  ride  him  though,  Jim." 

"I'll  try,"  was  the  answer. 

The  bronco  was  led  to  a  corner  of  the  cor- 
ral, or  stable  yard,  and  tied.  Then  the  fore- 


152     The  Curlytops  at  Uncle  Frank's  Ranch 

man  made  ready  to  try  to  stay  in  the  saddle 
longer  than  had  any  of  his  men,  for  when  a 
bronco  bucks  it  is  like  trying  to  hold  on  to  a 
swing  that  is  turning  topsy-turvy. 

Suddenly,  as  Teddy  and  Janet  were  look- 
ing at  some  of  the  funny  tricks  the  cowboys 
were  playing  on  one  another,  Uncle  Frank 
gave  a  cry. 

"Look  at  Trouble!"  he  exclaimed. 

Baby  William  had  crawled  through  the 
fence  and  was  close  to  the  dangerous  heels  of 
the  bucking  bronco. 


CHAPTER  XIII 

MISSING  CATTLE 

FOR  a  moment  none  of  the  cowboys  made 
a  move.  They  were  too  frightened  at  what 
might  happen  to  Trouble.  If  it  had  been 
one  of  their  own  friends  who  had  gone  into 
the  corral  where  the  dangerous  bronco  was 
standing,  they  would  have  known  what  to 
do. 

They  would  have  called  for  him  to  "Look 
out !"  and  the  cowboy  would  have  kept  away 
from  the  animal.  But  it  was  different  with 
Trouble.  To  him  one  horse  was  like  an- 
other. He  liked  them  all,  and  he  never 
thought  any  of  them  would  kick  or  bite  him. 
The  bucking  bronco  was  most  dangerous  of 
all. 

"Oh,  Trouble!"  exclaimed  Janet  softly. 

1 1 1— 1 11  get  him ! "  whispered  Teddy.  ' '  I 
can  crawl  in  there  and  run  and  get  him  be- 
fore that  bronco " 

153 


154     The  Curlytops  at  Uncle  Frank's  Ranch 

"You  stay  right  where  you  are,  Curly- 
top  I"  exclaimed  Jim  l^Eason.  "We  don't 
want  you  both  hurt,  and  if  you  go  in  there 
now  you  might  start  that  crazy  horse  to 
kicking.  Stay  where  you  are.  I'll  get 
Trouble  for  you." 

"Maybe  if  I  called  to  him  he'd  come," 
said  Janet.  She,  too,  spoke  in  a  whisper. 
In  fact  no  one  had  made  a  noise  since  Trou- 
ble had  been  seen  crawling  under  the  corral 
fence,  close  to  the  bucking  bronco. 

"No,  don't  call,  Janet,"  said  the  foreman. 
"You  might  make  the  bronco  give  a  jump, 
and  then  he'd  step  on  your  little  brother. 
That  horse  is  a  savage  one,  and  he's  so  ex- 
cited now,  from  so  many  of  the  cowboys 
having  tried  to  ride  him,  that  he  might 
break  loose  and  kick  Trouble.  We've  got  to 
keep  quiet." 

The  cowboys  seemed  to  know  this,  for 
none  of  them  said  a  word.  They  kept  very 
still  and  watched  Trouble. 

Baby  William  thought  he  was  going  to 
have  a  good  time.  He  had  wandered  out  of 
the  house  when  his  mother  was  not  looking. 
Seeing  Ted,  Janet  and  the  cowboys  down  by 
the  corral,  he  made  up  his  mind  that  was  the 
place  for  him. 


Missing  Cattle  155 


"Maybe  I  get  a  horse  wide,"  he  said  to 
himself,  for  he  was  about  as  eager  over 
horses  as  his  sister  or  brother,  and,  so  far, 
the  only  rides  he  had  had  were  when  he  sat 
in  the  saddle  in  front  with  them  or  with  his 
father,  and  went  along  very  slowly  indeed. 
For  they  dared  not  let  the  horse  go  fast 
when  Trouble  was  with  them,  and  Trouble 
wanted  to  go  fast. 

"Me  go  get  wide  myse'f,"  he  murmured, 
and  then,  when  no  one  was  looking,  he 
slipped  under  the  corral  fence. 

He  was  now  toddling  close  to  the  heels  of 
the  bronco. 

"Nice  horsie,"  said  Trouble  in  his  sweet- 
est voice.  "I  get  on  your  back  an'  have 
nice  wide!" 

Trouble  always  had  hard  work  to  sound 
the  r  in  ride.  "Wide"  he  always  called  it. 

Nearer  and  nearer  he  came  to  the  bronco. 
The  animal,  without  turning  its  head,  knew 
that  someone  was  coming  up  behind.  Many 
a  time  a  cowboy  had  tried  to  fool  the  savage 
horse  that  way,  and  leap  into  the  saddle 
without  being  seen.  But  Imp,  as  the  bronco 
was  named,  knew  all  those  tricks. 

He  turned  back  his  ears,  and  when  a  horse 
does  that  it  is  not  a  good  sign.  Almost  al- 


156     The  Curlytops  at  Uncle  Frank's  Ranch 

ways  it  means  he  is  going  to  bite  or  kick. 

In  this  case  Imp  would  have  to  kick,  as 
Trouble  was  too  far  behind  to  be  bitten. 
And  Imp  did  not  seem  to  care  that  it  was  a 
little  boy  who  was  behind,  and  not  a  big 
cowboy.  Imp  was  going  to  do  his  worst. 

But  Jim  Mason  was  getting  ready  to  save 
Trouble.  Going  around  to  the  side,  where 
he  could  not  be  seen  so  well,  the  foreman 
quickly  leaped  over  the  fence.  And  then  he 
ran  swiftly  toward  Trouble,  never  saying  a 
word. 

The  bronco  heard  the  sound  of  running 
feet.  He  turned  his  head  around  to  see  who 
else  was  coming  to  bother  him  and  then,  be- 
fore Imp  could  do  anything  and  before 
Trouble  could  reach  and  put  his  little  hands 
on  the  dangerous  heels,  the  foreman  caught 
up  Baby  William  and  jumped  back  with 
him,  out  of  the  way  in  case  Imp  should  kick. 

And  kick  Imp  did !  His  heels  shot  out  as 
he  laid  his  ears  farther  back  on  his  head 
and  he  gave  a  shrill  scream,  as  horses  can 
when  they  are  angry. 

"No  you  don't!  Not  this  time!"  cried 
Jim  Mason,  as  he  ran  back  to  the  fence  with 
Trouble.  "And  you  must  never  go  into  the 
corral  or  near  horses  again,  Trouble!  Do 


Missing  Cattle  157 


you  hear?"  and  the  foreman  spoke  to  Baby 
William  as  though  very  angry  indeed.  But 
he  had  to  do  this,  for  the  little  fellow  must 
learn  not  to  go  into  danger. 

"Don't  ever  go  in  there  again !"  said  the 
foreman,  as  he  set  Trouble  down  on  the 
ground  in  a  safe  place. 

"No,,  me  not  go,"  was  the  answer,  and 
Baby  William's  lips  quivered  as  though  he 
were  going  to  cry. 

"Well,  that's  all  right,  old  man!"  said  the 
foreman  in  kind  tones.  For  he  loved  chil- 
dren and  did  not  even  like  to  hurt  their  feel- 
ings. "I  didn't  mean  to  scare  you." 

But  he  had  scared  Trouble,  or,  rather  the 
sudden  catching  up  of  the  little  fellow  and 
the  pony's  scream  had  frightened  him,  and 
Janet's  baby  brother  began  to  cry,  hiding  his 
head  in  her  dress. 

But,  after  all,  that  was  the  best  thing  to 
make  Trouble  remember  that  he  must  not  go 
in  the  corral,  and  he  had  soon  forgotten  his 
tears  and  was  laughing  at  the  funny  tricks 
Imp  cut  up  as  Jim  Mason  tried  to  ride 
him. 

The  foreman,  after  he  had  carried  Trou- 
ble safely  out  of  the  way,  went  back  in  the 
corral  and  jumped  on  the  bucking  bronco's 


158     The  Curlytops  at  Uncle  Frank's  Ranch 

back.    Then  Imp  did  all  he  could  to  get  the 
man  out  of  the  saddle. 

Around  and  around  the  corral  dashed  the 
cow  pony,  and  when  he  found  that  Jim  stuck 
on  the  horse  began  jumping  up  in  the  air — 
bucking  as  the  cowboys  call  it.  Even  that 
did  not  shake  the  foreman  to  the  ground. 

Then,  suddenly,  the  horse  fell  down.  But 
it  was  not  an  accident.  He  did  it  on  pur- 
pose, and  then  he  began  to  roll  over,  think- 
ing this,  surely,  would  get  that  man  off  his 
back. 

It  did.  But  when  Imp  tried  to  roll  over 
on  the  foreman,  to  hurt  him,  Jim  Mason  just 
laughed  and  jumped  out  of  the  way.  He 
knew  Imp  would  probably  do  this  and  he 
was  ready  for  him. 

Jim  watched  Imp,  and  as  soon  as  the 
bronco  stopped  rolling  and  stood  up  again 
the  foreman  jumped  into  the  saddle.  This 
was  too  much  for  Imp.  He  made  up  his 
mind  he  could  not  get  rid  of  such  a  good 
rider,  so  the  horse  settled  down  and  gal- 
loped around  the  corral  as  he  ought  to  do. 

1 1  Hurray !  Jim  rides  him  after  all ! "  cried 
some  of  the  cowboys. 

"I  told  you  I'd  stick  to  him,"  said  the 
foreman  with  a  laugh. 


Missing  Cattle  159 

"I  wish  I  could  ride  that  way,"  said 
Teddy,  with  a  little  sigh  when  Jim  came  out 
of  the  corral  and  left  Imp  to  have  a  rest. 

"Well,  maybe  you  will  some  day,"  said 
the  foreman.  "You've  got  a  good  start,  and 
there's  no  better  place  to  learn  to  ride  pony- 
back  than  at  Ring  Rosy  Ranch." 

One  warm,  pleasant  afternoon,  when  they 
had  played  about  the  house  for  some  time, 
amusing  themselves  at  the  games  they  were 
wont  to  pass  the  time  with  in  the  East,  Jan 
called  to  her  brother : 

"Let's  go  and  take  a  ride  on  our  ponies!" 

"All  right,"  agreed  Teddy.  "Where'll 
we  go?" 

"Oh,  not  very  far.  Mother  told  us  we 
mustn't  go  very  far  when  we're  alone." 

"That  was  before  we  knew  how  to  ride," 
declared  the  little  boy.  "I  guess  we  ride 
good  enough  now  to  take  long  rides." 

"But  not  now,"  insisted  Jan.  "We'll 
only  go  for  a  little  way,  or  I'm  not  going  to 
play." 

"All  right,"  Teddy  agreed.  "We  won't 
go  very  far." 

So  they  went  out  to  the  stable  where  their 
ponies  were  kept,  and  there  one  of  the  cow- 
boys kindly  saddled  Clipclap  and  Star  Face 


160     The  Curly  tops  at  Uncle  Frank's  Ranch 

for  the  little  Curlytops.  Uncle  Prank  had 
given  orders  to  his  men  that  they  were  to  let 
the  children  have  the  ponies  whenever  it  was 
safe  to  ride,  and  this  was  one  of  the  nicest 
days  of  the  summer. 

" Don't  let  'em  run  away  with  you!" 
laughed  the  cowboy,  as  he  helped  Jan  and 
Ted  into  their  saddles. 

"Oh,  Clipclap  and  Star  Face  won't  run 
away!"  declared  the  little  girl.  "They're 
too  nice." 

"Yes,  they  are  nice  ponies,"  agreed  the 
cowboy.  "Well,  good-bye  and  good  luck." 

Riding  up  to  the  house,  to  tell  their  mother 
they  were  going  for  a  ride,  but  would  keep 
within  sight  or  calling  distance,  Ted  and  Jan 
were  soon  guiding  their  ponies  across  the 
prairie. 

The  children  had  soon  learned  to  sit  well 
in  the  saddles,  and  knew  how  to  guide  their 
ponies.  And  the  little  animals  were  very 
safe. 

"Somehow  or  other,  I  don't  feel  at  all 
worried  here  when  the  children  are  out  of 
my  sight — I  mean  Teddy  and  Janet,"  said 
Mrs.  Martin  to  her  husband,  when  the  Cur- 
lytops had  ridden  away. 

"Yes,  Uncle  Frank's  ranch  does  seem  a 


Missing  Cattle  161 


safe  place  for  them,"  Mr.  Martin  answered. 
"Lots  of  'down  East'  people  think  the  West 
is  a  dangerous  place.  Well,  maybe  it  is  in 
spots,  but  it  is  very  nice  here." 

On  over  the  prairies  rode  Teddy  and 
Janet.  Now  and  then  the  little  girl  would 
stop  her  pony  and  look  back. 

"What  are  you  looking  for?"  Teddy 
asked.  "Do  you  think  Trouble  is  following 
us?" 

"No,  but  we  mustn't  go  too  far  from  the 
house.  We  must  stay  in  sight  of  it,  mother 
said." 

"Well,  we  will,"  promised  Ted. 

But,  after  a  while,  perhaps  it  was  because 
it  was  so  nice  to  ride  along  on  the  ponies' 
backs,  or  because  the  little  animals  went 
faster  than  Ted  or  Janet  imagined — I  don't 
know  just  how  it  did  happen,-  but,  all  at  once, 
Jan  looked  back  and  gave  a  cry. 

"Why,  what's  the  matter,  Jan?"  asked 
Teddy. 

"We — we're  lost!"  gasped  the  little  girl. 
"I  can't  see  Uncle  Frank's  house  any- 
where!" 

It  was  true  enough.  None  of  the  ranch 
buildings  were  in  sight,  and  for  a  moment 
Ted,  too,  was  frightened.  Then  as  his  pony 


162     The  Curly  tops  at  Uncle  Frank's  Ranch 

moved  on,  a  little  ahead  of  Jan's,  the  boy 
gave  a  cry  of  delight. 

" There  it  is!  I  can  see  the  house!"  he 
said.  "We 're  not  lost.  We  were  just  down 
in  a  hollow  I  guess." 

And  so  it  was.  The  prairies,  though  they 
look  level,  are  made  up  of  little  hills  and  val- 
leys, or  hollows.  Down  in  between  two  hills 
one  might  be  very  near  a  house  and  yet  not 
see  it. 

"Now  we're  all  right,"  went  on  Teddy. 

"Yes,"  agreed  Janet.  "We're  not  lost 
any  more." 

So  they  rode  on  a  little  farther,  the  ponies 
now  and  then  stopping  to  crop  a  bit  of  the 
sweet  grass,  when,  all  of  a  sudden,  Teddy, 
who  was  still  a  little  ahead  of  his  sister, 
called : 

"Look  there,  Jan!" 

"Where?" 

Teddy  pointed.  His  sister  saw  several 
men  on  horseback — at  least  that  is  what  they 
looked  like — coming  toward  them.  Some- 
thing about  the  figures  seemed  a  bit  strange 
to  the  children.  Ted  and  Jan  looked  at  one 
another  and  then  back  toward  the  ranch 
houses,  which,  they  made  sure,  were  not  out 
of  sight  this  time. 


Missing  Cattle  163 


"Are  they  cowboys?"  asked  Jan  of  her 
brother. 

"They — they  don't  just  look  like  'em/'  he 
said.  "I  mean  like  Uncle  Frank's  cow- 
boys/' 

"That's  what  I  thought,"  Janet  added. 
"They  look  like  they  had  blankets  on — some 
of  'em." 

She  and  Teddy  sat  on  their  ponies'  backs 
and  kept  looking  at  the  other  figures.  They 
were  coming  nearer,  that  was  sure,  and  as 
they  came  closer  it  was  more  and  more  cer- 
tain to  the  Curlytops  that  some  of  the 
strangers  on  the  horses  were  wrapped  in 
blankets. 

"Oh,  I  know  what  they  are!"  suddenly 
cried  Janet. 

"What?" 

"In— Indians!"  faltered  Janet.  "Oh, 
Teddy,  if  they  should  be  wild  Indians!" 

"Pooh!"  exclaimed  Teddy,  trying  to 
speak  bravely.  "Uncle  Frank  said  there 
weren't  any  very  wild  Indians  near  his 
ranch." 

"Maybe  these  ones  wasn't  near  the  ranch 
before,  but  they're  coming  near  now,"  said 
Janet,  so  excited  the  words  tumbled  out  all 
mixed-up  like.  "  I  'm  going  home ! ' ' 


164 


"I — I  guess  111  go  with  you,"  added 
Teddy,  as  he  turned  his  pony's  head  about. 
"We'd  better  tell  Uncle  Frank  the  Indians 
are  coming.  Maybe  they  want  more  of  his 
horses." 

"Oh,  he  won't  let  'em  have  any!"  cried 
Janet.  "But  they  are  Indians  sure 
enough!"  she  went  on,  as  she  took  a  look 
over  her  shoulder. 

And  there  was  no  doubt  about  it.  As  the 
group  of  riders  came  closer  to  the  children, 
whose  ponies  did  not  go  as  fast  as  the  larger 
horses,  it  was  seen  that  they  were  indeed  In- 
dians, many  of  them  wrapped  in  blankets. 
There  were  men,  women,  boys  and  girts,  and 
some  of  the  smaller  children  were  carried 
wrapped  tightly  to  their  mothers'  backs. 

Up  to  the  ranch  rode  Teddy  and  Jan  as 
fast  as  their  ponies  would  take  them  with- 
out tossing  off  the  Curlytops. 

"Oh,  Uncle  Frank!"  cried  Teddy. 
"They're  coming!" 

"A  lot  of  'em!"  shouted  Janet. 

"What's  that?"  asked  the  ranchman. 
"Who  are  coming?" 

"Indians  to  take  more  of  your  ponies!" 
Teddy  gasped. 

For  a  time  there  was  some  little  excite- 


Missing  Cattle  165 

ment  on  the  ranch,  until  one  of  the  cowboys, 
riding  out  to  see  the  Indians,  came  back  and 
said  they  were  not  "wild"  ones,  but  a  band 
that  went  about  selling  baskets  and  other 
things  they  made.  They  did  no  harm,  and 
for  a  time  camped  near  the  ranch,  the  chil- 
dren, even  Trouble,  going  over  to  see  them. 
But  for  some  time  the  Curlytops  did  not  for- 
get the  fright  their  first  view  of  the  Indians 
gave  them. 

In  the  days  that  followed  Teddy  and 
Janet  had  many  rides  on  Clipclap  and  Star 
Face,  their  two  nice  ponies.  Sometimes  they 
were  allowed  to  go  a  little  way  over  the 
prairies  by  themselves.  But  when  they  went 
for  a  long  ride  Uncle  Frank,  Jim  Mason, 
their  father  or  some  of  the  cowboys  were 
with  them. 

"After  a  while  maybe  111  learn  how  to 
ride  so  I  can  go  off  with  you  and  help  get 
the  Indians  that  stole  your  horses.  Do  you 
think  I  can,  Uncle  Frank?"  asked  Teddy 
one  day. 

' '  Well,  maybe,  Curlytop.  We  surely  must 
find  those  Indians,  for  I  don't  like  to  lose 
all  those  horses.  As  soon  as  I  get  some  of 
my  work  done  I'll  have  another  look  for 
them." 


166     The  Curly  tops  at  Uncle  Frank's  Ranch 

And  then,  a  few  days  later,  more  bad  news 
came  to  Uncle  Frank.  With  his  cowboys  he 
was  getting  some  cattle  ready  to  ship  away 
to  a  distant  city,  from  where  they  were  to 
be  sent  still  farther  away  in  a  train  of  cattle 
cars,  when  a  cowboy,  who  seemed  much  ex- 
cited, came  riding  up  to  the  corral. 

He  looked  very  tired  and  warm,  for  the 
weather  was  hot,  and  his  horse  was  covered 
with  flecks  of  foam,  as  though  it  had  been 
ridden  hard  and  far. 

" What's  the  matter,  Henry ?"  asked 
Uncle  Frank. 

"Indian  thieves!"  was  the  answer.  "A 
band  of  the  Indians  have  run  away  with  a 
lot  of  your  best  cattle!" 

' '  They  have  1 ' '  cried  Uncle  Frank.  1 1  How 
do  you  know1?" 

"I  saw  'em,  and  I  chased  'em.  But  they 
got  away  from  me.  Maybe  if  we  start  right 
out  now  we  can  catch  'em  and  get  back  the 
cattle." 

"Then  we'll  go!"  cried  Uncle  Frank. 

Teddy  and  Janet  were  very  much  excited 
when  they  saw  the  cowboys  saddling  their 
mustangs  ready  for  the  chase. 


CHAPTER  XIY 

LOOKING  FOR  INDIANS 

"CAN'T  we  come  along?"  asked  Teddy, 
as  he  saw  Uncle  Frank  lead  his  horse  out  of 
the  corral. 

"And  I  want  to  come,  too!"  added  Janet. 

"Oh,  no!  We  couldn't  think  of  letting 
you!"  answered  Uncle  Frank.  "Come  on, 
boys !  Get  ready.  We  '11  have  to  ride  fast ! ' ' 

"We  can  ride  fast !"  added  Teddy.  "You 
said,  the  other  day,  Uncle  Frank,  I  could 
ride  real  good!" 

"So  you  can,  Curlytop." 

"Then  why  can't  we  come?  Jan — she's 
a  good  rider,  too!" 

"Why  the  idea  of  you  children  thinking 
you  can  go  off  on  a  hunt  for  Indians!"  ex- 
claimed their  mother. 

"We  want  to  go — awful  much!"  Teddy 
murmured. 

"Not  this  time,  Curly  boy,"  said  the 
167 


168     The  Curly  tops  at  Uncle  Frank's  Ranch 

ranchman.  "We  may  have  to  be  out  all 
night,  and  it  looks  like  rain.  You  stay  at 
home  with  Janet,  and  I'll  tell  you  all  about 
it  when  I  come  back." 

"Will  you,  truly?" 

"Truly  I  will." 

"And  if  you  get  any  Indians  will  you 
bring  'em  here?"  Teddy  demanded. 

"No,  don't!"  cried  Janet  quickly.  "I 
don't  want  to  see  any  Indians." 

"But  they're  tame  ones,"  said  her 
brother. 

"They  can't  be  awful  tame,  else  they 
wouldn't  run  away  with  Uncle  Frank's 
cows,"  declared  the  little  girl. 

"That's  right!"  laughed  Uncle  Frank. 
"I  guess  we  won't  bring  any  Indians  here, 
Curlytop,  even  if  we  catch  'em,  which  we 
may  not  do  as  they  have  a  good  start  of  us. 
Anyhow  we'll  have  to  turn  the  Redmen  back 
to  their  reservation  where  they  belong  if  we 
get  any  of  them.  We'll  just  take  my  cattle 
and  horses  away,  if  we  can,  and  tell  the 
Indians  to  go  home  and  be  good." 

"Will  they  do  it?"  asked  Daddy  Martin. 

"It's  hard  to  say,"  answered  Uncle 
Frank.  "I'd  like  to  make  'em  stop  taking 
my  animals,  though.  Well,  I  guess  we'll 


Looking  for  Indians  169 

start.    We'll  be  back  as  soon  as  we  can." 

So  he  rode  off  with  his  cowboys  after  the 
Indians.  The  cowboy  who  had  ridden  in 
with  the  news  went  back  with  the  others  to 
show  them  where  he  had  last  seen  the  cattle 
thieves. 

He  stopped  at  the  ranch  house  long 
enough,  though,  to  get  something  to  eat,  and 
then  rode  away  again.  But  he  found  time 
to  talk  a  while  to  the  Curlytops. 

" Where  did  you  see  the  Indians?"  Teddy 
asked  while  the  cowboy  was  eating  and 
Uncle  Frank  and  the  others  getting  ready 
for  the  chase. 

"Oh,  I  was  giving  my  pony  a  drink  at  the 
spring  in  the  rocks  when  I  saw  the  Indians 
across  the  prairie — field,  I  guess  you'd  call 
it  back  East." 

"Well,  the  prairies  are  big  fields,"  ob- 
served Janet. 

"So  they  are,  Curly  girl,"  laughed  the 
cowboy.  "Well,  it  was  while  I  was  water- 
ing my  horse  that  I  saw  the  Indians." 

"You  mean  at  the  spring  in  the  rocks 
where  Jan  and  I  found  Clipclap  in  the 
cave?"  Teddy  asked. 

"That's  the  place,  Curlytop.  I  chased 
after  them  to  see  which  way  they  were  driv- 


170     The  Curly  tops  at  Uncle  Frank's  Ranch 

ing  off  your  Uncle  Frank's  cattle,  but  I 
saw  they  were  too  many  for  me,  so  I  came 
on  back  as  fast  as  my  horse  would  bring 


me." 

"Was  there  a  lot  of  Indians?"  Teddy  in- 
quired. 

"Quite  a  few,"  answered  the  cowboy. 
"Well,  now  I've  got  to  go  and  help  chase 
them,"  and  he  hurried  through  his  meal  and 
rode  off  with  Uncle  Frank  and  the  others. 

"Say,  I  wish  we  could  go,  don't  you, 
Janet?"  asked  Teddy  of  his  sister,  when 
they  were  left  by  themselves  near  the  corral. 

"No,  I  don't!  I  don't  want  to  chase 
Indians!" 

"Well,  I'd  chase  'em  and  you  could  watch 
me." 

"You're  not  big  enough,"  said  the  little 
girl.  "Indians  are  awful  big.  Don't  you  re- 
member the  one  we  saw  at  the  station?" 

"Yes.  But  maybe  the  ones  that  took 
Uncle  Frank's  ponies  are  little  Indians." 

"I  don't  care,"  Janet  said.  "I  don't  want 
to  chase  after  any  of  'em.  I  don't  like  'em." 

"All  right — then  I  won't  go,"  decided 
Teddy.  "But  let's  go  and  take  a  ride  on  our 
ponies." 

"Yes,  I'll  do  that,"  agreed  Janet,  and 


OVER  THE   PRAIRIES    RODE    JANET   AND   TED. 
The  Curly  to  fs  at  Uncle  Frank's  Ranch  Page  171 


Looking  for  Indians  171 

soon,  having  had  one  of  the  cowboys  who  had 
been  left  behind  at  Ring  Rosy  Ranch  saddle 
Clipclap  and  Star  Face,  the  Curlytops 
started  for  their  ride. 

"Don't  go  too  far!"  called  Mrs.  Martin 
after  the  children. 

"No,  we  won't,"  they  promised. 

"I  wants  to  go  wide  too !"  begged  Trouble. 
"I  'ikes  a  wide  on  a  ponyback." 

"Not  now,  my  dear,"  his  mother  said. 
"We'll  go  in  the  shade  and  pick  flowers," 
and  she  carried  him  away  where  he  would 
not  see  Teddy  and  Janet  go  off,  for  that 
made  Trouble  fretful.  He  wanted  to  be 
with  them. 

Over  the  prairie  rode  Janet  and  Ted. 
Their  ponies  went  slowly,  for  the  children 
had  been  told  not  to  ride  fast  when  they 
were  alone.  But,  after  a  while,  Ted  got  tired 
of  this  slow  motion. 

"Let's  have  a  race,  Jan!"  he  called.  "I 
can  beat  you  from  here  to  that  hill,"  and  he 
pointed  to  one  not  far  away. 

"Mother  said  we  couldn't  ride  fast,"  ob- 
jected the  little  girl. 

"Well,  we  won't  ride  very  fast,"  agreed 
Ted.  "Come  on,  just  a  little  run." 

Janet,  too,  wanted  to  go  a  bit  faster,  and 


172     The  Curlytops  at  Uncle  Frank's  Ranch 

so,  when  her  pony  was  in  a  line  with  Ted's, 
she  called  sharply : 

"Gid-dap,  Star  Face  V1 

"Gid-dap,  Clipclap!"  cried  Teddy. 

The  two  ponies  started  to  run. 

"Oh,  I'm  going  to  beat!  I'm  going  to 
beat!"  Janet  cried,  for  she  saw  that  Star 
Pace  was  getting  ahead  of  Clipclap. 

"No  you're  not!"  shouted  Teddy,  and  he 
touched  his  heel  to  the  pony's  flank.  Clip- 
clap  gave  a  jump  forward,  and  then  some- 
thing happened. 

Teddy  took  a  flying  leap,  and  right  over 
Clipclap 's  head  he  sailed,  coming  down  on 
his  hands  and  knees  some  distance  off.  Clip- 
clap  fell  down  and  rolled  over  in  the  grass 
while  Janet  kept  on  toward  the  hill  that 
marked  the  end  of  the  race. 

The  little  girl  reached  this  place  first,  not 
being  able  to  stop  her  pony  when  she  saw 
what  had  happened  to  Teddy.  But  as  soon 
as  she  could  turn  around  she  rode  back  to 
him  and  asked  anxiously: 

"Are  you  hurt,  Ted?" 

"No — no.  I — I  guess  not,"  he  answered 
slowly. 

"Is  Clipclap  ?"  asked  Janet. 

The  pony  answered  for  himself  by  getting 


Looking  for  Indians  173 

up,  giving  himself  a  shake  and  then  begin- 
ning to  eat  some  grass. 

"What  happened ?"  Janet  questioned 
further.  " Why  didn't  you  come  on  and  race 
with  me?  I  won!" 

"Yes,  I  guess  you  did,"  admitted  Teddy, 
getting  up  and  brushing  the  dust  off  his 
clothes.  "But  I'd  'a'  beaten  you,  only  my 
pony  stumbled  and  he  threw  me  over  his 
head.  I  went  right  over  his  head;  didn't  I 
Janet?" 

"Yes,  you  did,  Teddy.  And  you  looked 
awful  funny!  But  I'm  glad  you're  not 
hurt." 

"So'ml." 

"WHhat  made  Clipclap  stumble?"  asked 
the  little  girl. 

"I  guess  he  stepped  in  a  gopher's  hole," 
answered  her  brother. 

"Let's  look,"  proposed.  Janet. 

Brother  and  sister  went  to  the  place  where 
Clipclap  had  stumbled.  There  they  saw  a 
little  hole  in  the  ground.  It  was  the  front, 
or  maybe  the  back,  door  of  the  home  of  a 
little  animal  called  a  gopher,  which  burrows 
under  the  earth.  A  gopher  is  a  sort  of 
squirrel-like  rat,  and  on  the  prairies  they 
make  many  holes  which  are  dangerous  if  a 


174     The  Curly  tops  at  Uncle  Frank's  Ranch 

horse  suddenly  steps  into  them.  Prairie 
dogs  are  another  species  of  animal  that  bur- 
row on  the  Western  plains,  making  holes 
into  vMch  horses  or  ponies  often  step, 
breaking  their  legs  and  throwing  their 
riders. 

This  time  nothing  had  happened  except 
that  Teddy  and  the  pony  had  been  shaken 
up.  The  pony  might  have  broken  a  leg  but 
did  not,  nor  was  Teddy  even  scratched. 

Cowboys  always  dread  gopher  and 
prairie  dog  holes,  especially  at  night  when 
they  can  not  be  so  easily  seen. 

"Oh,  I  know  what  let's  do!"  exclaimed 
Janet,  when  she  found  that  her  brother  was 
all  right. 

" What  ?"  asked  Teddy. 

"Let's  wait  here  until  the  gopher  comes 
up!" 

"All  right.  Then  we'll  catch  him  and  take 
him  home  to  Trouble." 


CHAPTER  XV 

TROUBLE  "HELPS" 

JANET  and  Teddy  sat  beside  the  gopher 
hole,  while  their  ponies,  not  far  from  them, 
ate  the  sweet  grass  of  the  prairie.  Clipclap 
and  Star  Face  did  not  wander  away,  even  if 
they  were  not  tied  to  a  hitching  post.  For 
Western  horses  and  cow  ponies  are  trained 
to  stand  where  their  master  leaves  them,  if 
he  will  but  toss  the  reins  over  their  heads 
and  let  them  rest  on  the  ground. 

When  a  pony  sees  that  this  has  been  done 
he  will  never  run  away,  unless  perhaps 
something  frightens  him  very  much.  It  may 
be  that  he  thinks,  when  the  reins  are  over 
his  head  and  down  on  the  ground,  they  are 
tied  to  something,  so  he  could  not  run  away 
if  he  wanted  to. 

At  any  rate,  Clipclap  and  Star  Face 
stayed  where  Ted  and  Janet  left  them,  and 

175 


176     The  Curly  tops  at  Uncle  Frank's  Ranch 

the  little  Curlytops  watched  the  gopher 
hole. 

"I  wonder  when  he'll  come  out,"  said 
Janet  after  a  bit. 

"Shs-s-s-s!"  whispered  Teddy.  " Don't 
talk!" 

"Why  not?"  asked  his  sister. 

"  'Cause*  you  might  scare  him.  You 
mustn't  talk  any  more  than  if  you  were  fish- 
ing." 

"A  gopher  isn't  a  fish!" 

"I  know  it,"  said  Teddy.  "But  you've 
got  to  keep  quiet." 

So  he  and  Janet  remained  very  quiet, 
watching  the  hole.  Suddenly  Janet  gave 
Teddy  a  slight  tap  with  her  hand.  He  had 
looked  off  to  see  if  the  ponies  were  all  right. 

"What's  the  matter  1"  asked  Teddy. 

"Hush!"  whispered  Janet.  "There  he 
is." 

She  pointed  to  the  gopher's  hole.  Teddy 
saw  a  tiny  black  nose  and  a  pair  of  spar- 
kling eyes  as  a  head  was  thrust  a  little  way 
out  of  the  burrow. 

"I'll  get  him!"  cried  the  little  boy. 

With  outstretched  hand  he  made  a  grab 
toward  the  hole.  But  his  fingers  only 
grasped  a  lot  of  dirt  and  stones.  The  gopher 


Trouble  "Helps" 177 

had  dived  down  back  into  his  hole  as  soon 
as  he  saw  Teddy's  first  move. 

"Oh,  he  got  away!"  said  Janet  sorrow- 
fully. ' 

"I'll  get  him  next  time,"  declared  Teddy. 

But  he  did  not.  Three  or  four  times  more 
the  little  animal  put  his  small  head  and 
bright  eyes  out  of  the  top  of  the  hole,  and 
each  time  Teddy  made  a  grab  for  him ;  but 
the  gopher  was  too  quick.  Finally  Janet 
said: 

"I  guess  we  better  go  home,  Teddy." 

"Why?" 

"Oh,  it's  getting  late,  and  I'm  getting 
hungry." 

"  So  'm  I.  I  '11  wait  until  he  comes  up  once 
more  and  then  we'll  go." 

Once  more  the  gopher  peeped  up,  as  if 
wondering  why  in  the  world  those  two 
strange  children  did  not  go  away  and  let  him 
alone.  Ted  made  a  grab  for  him,  but  missed 
and  then  the  little  boy  said : 

"Come  on,  Jan.    Now  we'll  go  home!" 

"And  we  haven't  any  nice  little  gopher  to 
take  to  Trouble,"  said  Janet  sadly. 

"Oh,  well,  maybe  it  would  bite  him  if  we 
did  catch  one,"  reflected  her  brother.  "I'll 
take  him  some  of  these  pretty  stones,"  and 


178     The  Curly  tops  at  Uncle  Frank's  Ranch 

he  picked  up  some  from  the  ground.  "He'll 
like  to  play  with  these. ' ' 

Teddy  whistled  f  or.his  pony  and  Clipclap 
came  slowly  up  to  his  little  master.  Janet 
held  out  a  bunch  of  grass  to  Star  Face  and 
her  pony,  just  as  he  had  been  taught,  came 
up  to  her.  Teddy  helped  his  sister  get  up 
in  the  saddle.  It  was  not  hard  for  them,  as 
the  ponies  were  small,  and  Jim  Mason  had 
showed  them  how  to  put  one  foot  in  the  stir- 
rup, and  then,  with  one  hand  on  the  saddle 
and  the  other  grasping  both  the  bridle  and 
the  pony's  mane,  give  a  jump  that  carried 
them  up.  But  though  Janet  could  mount 
her  pony  alone  Teddy  always  helped  her 
when  he  was  with  her  by  holding  the  stirrup. 

"Let's  have  another  race  home,"  sug- 
gested Teddy,  when  they  had  started. 

"No,"  answered  his  sister.  "You  might 
fall  some  more  and  get  hurt.  We'll  ride 
slow." 

So  they  did,  though  Teddy  was  anxious 
for  a  good,  fast  gallop. 

"Well,  did  you  have  a  nice  time?"  asked 
Mother  Martin,  as  they  came  to  the  house 
after  putting  away  their  ponies. 

"We  had  lots  of  fun,"  answered  Janet. 
"Teddy  fell  off  his  pony " 


Trouble  "Helps" 179 

"Fell  off  his  pony!"  cried  her  mother. 

"He  threw  me!"  explained  Ted,  and  then 
he  told  what  had  happened. 

"An'  didn't  you  catch  noffin  for  me?" 
asked  Trouble,  who  heard  his  brother  telling 
the  story  of  his  adventure. 

"I  brought  you  these  nice  stones,"  and 
Teddy  took  them  out  of  his  pocket.  "You 
can  play  with  them,  Trouble." 

Baby  William  laughed  and  sat  down  to 
play  with  the  stones. 

"Did  the  cowboys  come  back  with  the 
Indians?"  asked  Teddy  of  Aunt  Millie 
when  she  was  giving  him  and  Janet  some 
bread  and  jam  to  eat. 

"No,  not  yet,  Curlytop.  I  expect  Uncle 
Frank  and  the  boys  will  be  gone  all  night." 

"Will  they  have  a  house  to  sleep  in?" 
asked  Janet. 

"No,  unless  they  happen  to  be  near  one 
when  it  gets  dark.  But  they  took  their 
blankets  with  them,  and  it's  so  warm  that 
they'll  just  wrap  up  in  them  and  sleep  out 
on  the  prairie,"  said  Aunt  Millie. 

"Won't  they  be  hungry?"  Teddy  in- 
quired, as  he  took  a  big  bite  of  the  bread 
and  jam. 

' '  Oh,  no !   Don 't  you  remember  I  told  you 


180    The  Curly  tops  at  Uncle  Frank's  Ranch 

they  always  take  something  to  eat  with  them 
when  they  go  out  this  way  ?  They  are  used 
to  camping  on  the  prairies,  and  they  know 
how  to  make  a  fire,  broil  the  bacon  and  make 
their  coffee, "  answered  Aunt  Millie.  "You 
need  never  worry  about  Uncle  Frank  and 
his  cowboys.  They'll  be  all  right." 

And  so  they  were.  It  was  not  until  the 
next  afternoon  that  the  party  which  had 
gone  out  to  chase  the  Indians  came  back. 
They  were  tired,  because  they  had  ridden  a 
good  many  miles,  but  they  said  they  had 
slept  well  and  had  had  enough  to  eat. 

"Did  you  catch  the  Indians  1"  asked 
Teddy  eagerly. 

"No,  Curlytop,"  answered  Uncle  Frank. 
"I'm  sorry  to  say  we  did  not.  They  got 
away  from  us." 

"Did  you  see  them?"  asked  Daddy 
Martin. 

"Yes,  but  they  were  a  long  way  off.  Too 
far  for  us  to  get  at  them." 

"And  did  they  have  your  cattle  with 
them?" 

"Yes,  they  had  a  lot  of  my  best  animals. 
I  guess  they  must  be  hiding  away  some- 
where among  the  hills  and  mountains.  We 
came  pretty  close  to  them  at  one  time,  and 


Trouble  "Helps" 181 

they  suddenly  disappeared.  It  seems  as  if 
they  must  have  gone  into  a  big  hole  or  cave. 
We  couldn't  find  them." 

"Are  you  going  to  look  any  more?" 
Teddy  questioned.  "And  if  you  do  go, 
Uncle  Frank,  please  can't  I  go  too?" 

"Well,  most  likely  we  will  have  another 
hunt  for  the  Indians,"  answered  the  ranch- 
man, "but  I'm  afraid  we  couldn't  take  you 
along,  Curlytop." 

"Why  not,  Uncle  Frank?" 

"Oh,  you  might  get  hurt." 

"Well,  can  I  see  the  Indians  after  you 
catch  'em?" 

"Oh,  yes,  I  guess  I  can  promise  you  that/' 
and  Uncle  Frank  smiled  at  Daddy  Martin. 

"And  can  I  ask  them  to  make  me  a  bow 
and  arrows?"  went  on  Teddy. 

"Yes,  you  can  as~k  them,  but  I  don't  be- 
lieve they  will,"  Uncle  Frank  replied. 
"These  Indians  aren't  very  nice.  They're 
quite  bad,  in  fact,  and  we  all  wish  they'd 
stay  where  they  belong  and  not  come  off. 
their  reservation  and  steal  our  cattle  and 
horses." 

"Well,  I'm  going  to  ask  one  to  make  me 
a  bow  and  some  arrows  when  you  catch 
'em,"  decided  Teddy. 


182     The  Curly  tops  at  Uncle  Frank's  Ranch 

That  afternoon  Teddy  saw  his  sister  try- 
ing to  do  something  with  bits  of  string  and 
sticks  in  a  shady  spot  on  the  porch. 

"What  are  you  making,  Jan,"  he  asked. 
"A  cat's  cradle?" 

"Pooh !  you  don't  make  a  cat's  cradle  with 
sticks,"  said  the  little  girl. 

"Well,  I  thought  maybe  it  was  a  new 
kind,  or  maybe  a  kitten's  cradle,"  laughed 
Teddy. 

"Nope;  it  isn't  that  either,"  went  on 
Janet,  as  she  kept  on  twisting  the  strings 
around  the  sticks. 

"Well,  what  are  you  making?" 

"A  bow  and  arrow." 

"Ho!  Ho!"  laughed  Jan's  brother. 
"You  can't  make  a  bow  and  arrow  that  way. 
Anyhow  you  don't  need  a  string  for  an  ar- 
row." 

"I  know  that!"  Jan  said.  "But  I'm  mak- 
ing the  bow  first,  and  then  I'm  going  to  make 
the  arrow.  The  arrow  part  is  what  you 
shoot,  isn't  it,  Ted?" 

"  Yes, "  he  answered.  "  I'll  h  elp  you,  Jan. 
I  didn't  mean  to  laugh  at  you,"  he  went  on, 
for  he  saw  that  Janet  was  very  much  in  earn- 
est about  what  she  was  doing.  "I  know  how 
to  make  a  bow  and  arrows." 


Trouble  "Helps" 183 

t  i  Oh,  please  show  me  1 ' '  begged  Janet.  ' '  I 
want  to  know  how  to  shoot  like  the  Indians. " 

Teddy,  however,  did  not  have  much  better 
luck  making  the  bow  than  his  sister  had  had. 
The  trouble  was  that  the  sticks  Janet  had 
picked  up  were  not  the  right  kind.  They 
would  not  bend,  and  to  make  a  bow  that 
shoots  arrows  a  piece  of  wood  that  springs, 
or  bends,  is  needed.  For  it  is  the  springy  ac- 
tion of  the  wood  that  shoots  the  arrow  on  its 
way. 

After  trying  two  or  three  times,  each  time 
finding  something  wrong,  Teddy  said : 

"Oh,  I  don't  guess  I  can  make  a  bow, 
either.  Let's  play  something  else." 

"What '11  we  play?"  asked  Janet. 

Teddy  thought  for  a  few  moments.  Play- 
ing out  at  Uncle  Frank's  ranch  was  differ- 
ent from  playing  at  home.  In  some  ways 
it  was  not  so  easy,  for  at  home  if  the  Curly- 
tops  could  not  think  up  any  way  to  have  fun 
by  themselves,  they  could  run  down  the 
street  and  find  some  other  boys  and  girls. 
But  here  there  were  no  streets,  and  no  other 
boys  or  girls  unless  Teddy  and  Janet  went 
a  long  way  to  look  for  them,  and  they  could 
not  do  that. 

"I  know  what  we  can  do,"  said  Teddy, 


184     The  Curly  tops  at  Uncle  Frank's  Ranch 

after  a  while.  "We  can  get  some  blankets 
and  cookies  and  play  cowboy/' 

"How  can  you  play  cowboy  with  cookies 
and  blankets?" 

"I'll  show  you,"  Teddy  answered,  as  he 
went  into  the  house  to  get  the  things  he 
wanted.  He  soon  came  out  with  some  old 
quilts  and  the  cookies,  which  were  in  a  paper 
bag. 

"Now,"  went  on  Janet's  brother,  "Well 
go  off  on  the  prairie  and  make  believe  it's 
night  and  we  have  to  stay  out  like  the  cow- 
boys when  they  went  after  Uncle  Frank's 
horses." 

"Oh,  that'll  be  fun!"  cried  Janet,  and 
then  she  and  Ted  rolled  themselves  up  in  the 
old  quilts  and  pretended  to  go  to  sleep  on 
the  soft  grass  of  the  prairie,  making  believe 
it  was  night,  though  of  course  it  was  not,  for 
the  sun  was  shining.  Then  they  ate  the 
cookies,  pretending  they  were  bacon,  sand- 
wiches, cake  and  other  things  that  cowboys 
like. 

Two  or  three  days  later  Uncle  Frank  and 
the  cowboys  went  out  again  to  look  for  the 
Indians,  but  they  did  not  find  them.  From 
other  ranches  word  came  of  cattle  and 
horses  that  had  been  stolen,  and  more  cow- 


Trouble  "Helps" 185 

boys  were  hired  to  keep  watch  over  the  ani- 
mals that  had  to  be  left  out  in  the  big  fields 
to  eat  their  fill  of  grass.  No  barn  was  large 
enough  to  hold  them. 

Meanwhile  Teddy  and  Janet  were  learn- 
ing how  to  ride  better  each  day.  They  could 
go  quite  fast  now,  though  they  were  not  al- 
lowed to  make  their  ponies  gallop  except  on 
ground  where  Uncle  Frank  knew  there  were 
no  holes  in  which  the  animals  might  stumble. 

Sometimes  Daddy  and  Mother  Martin 
went  to  ride  with  the  children,  and  then 
they  had  good  times  together,  taking  their 
lunch  and  staying  all  day  out  on  the  prairie 
or  in  a  shady  grove  of  trees. 

One  day  Ted  and  Janet  saw  some  cow- 
boys driving  a  number  of  ponies  to  the  cor- 
ral near  the  ranch  buildings.  Some  of  the 
animals  were  quite  wild  and  went  racing 
about  as  though  they  would  like  to  run  far 
off  and  not  come  back. 

But  the  cowboys  knew  how  to  take  care 
of  the  ponies.  They  rode  around  them, 
keeping  them  together  in  a  bunch,  and  if  one 
started  to  get  away  the  cowboys  would  fire 
their  revolvers  and  yell,  so  the  pony  would 
become  frightened  and  turn  back. 

"Did  you  take  these  ponies  away  from 


186     The  Curly  tops  at  Uncle  Frank's  Ranch 

the  Indians  ?"  asked  Teddy,  as  he  saw  the 
little  animals  turned  into  the  corral  and  the 
gate  shut  on  them. 

"No,  these  are  some  that  have  been  run- 
ning wild  in  a  field  away  over  at  the  far  end 
of  my  ranch,"  explained  Uncle  Frank.  "I 
had  them  brought  in,  as  I'm  going  to  ship 
some  away  to  be  sold." 

"Come  on,  we'll  go  and  look  at  the 
ponies,"  called  Ted  to  his  sister.  "Are  they 
very  wild?"  he  asked  Jim  Mason,  who  had 
helped  the  cowboys  bring  them  to  the  ranch 
corral. 

"Yes,  some  of  'em  are  pretty  wild,"  was 
the  answer.  "We  had  hard  work  making 
them  come  along.  They  want  to  get  loose 
and  do  as  they  please." 

Ted  and  Janet  climbed  up  on  the  corral 
fence  to  look  at  the  ponies.  A  few  were 
somewhat  tame,  and  allowed  the  Curlytops 
to  pat  them.  But  others  were  very  wild,  and 
ran  about  as  though  looking  for  a  place  to 
jump  the  fence  or  get  out  through  a  hole. 
But  the  fence  was  good  and  strong.  It  was 
high  and  had  no  holes  in  it. 

"Lots  of  ponies!"  murmured  Trouble,  as 
he  toddled  after  his  brother  and  sister  to 
the  corral. 


Trouble  "Helps" 187 

"Yes,  lots  of  'em,"  agreed  Janet.  "You'll 
soon  be  a  big  boy  and  you  can  have  a  pony 
to  ride  like  brother  and  sister." 

"Trouble  want  pony  now!"  he  exclaimed. 

"Oh,  no,  not  now,"  Janet  said  as  she 
helped  him  get  up  on  the  lowest  board  of  the 
fence,  part  of  which  was  wooden,  so  he  could 
look  in  better. 

"What  they  run  around  like  that  for?" 
asked  Trouble,  as  he  saw  some  of  the  ponies 
racing  about  the  corral. 

"They  want  to  get  out,"  Janet  answered. 

"Trouble  go  help,"  murmured  the  little 
fellow,  but  Janet  either  did  not  hear  what 
he  said  or  she  paid  no  attention,  for  just 
then  two  of  the  ponies  had  a  race  together 
around  the  corral  and  she  and  Ted  wanted 
to  see  which  would  win. 

Trouble  got  down  off:  the  fence  and  went 
around  to  the  gate.  His  brother  and  sister 
did  not  notice  Mm  until,  all  at  once,  Janet, 
missing  her  little  brother,  cried: 

"Where's  Trouble?" 

"I  don't  know,"  Ted  answered.  "Maybe 

he Oh,  look,  Janet  1 "  he  suddenly  cried. 

"The  corral  gate  is  open  and  all  the  ponies 
are  running  out!" 

"Oh,   that's  right!     They  are!"  Janet 


188     The  Curly  tops  at  Uncle  Frank's  Ranch 

then  screamed.    "But  where  is  Trouble^" 

"I  don't  know.  I  guess  he Oh,  there 

he  is!"  and  Teddy  pointed  to  a  spot  near 
the  gate. 

There  stood  Trouble  between  the  fence 
and  the  big  gate  which  had  swung  back  on 
its  hinges. 

"Oh,  look  at  'em  run!"  cried  Janet. 

"They're  all  running  out!"  added  Teddy 
excitedly.  "I  wonder  who  let  'em  loose." 

"Maybe  it  was  Trouble,"  suggested  Janet. 
"Oh,  it  was!"  she  went  on.  "Trouble  must 
have  opened  the  gate  and  let  the  ponies 
loose!" 


CHAPTER  XVI 

ON  THE  TRAIL 

TROUBLE  had  done  that  very  thing.  The 
little  fellow  had  not  meant  to  do  any  harm, 
and  certainly  thought  he  was  doing  some- 
thing to  help,  but  really  he  made  a  great  deal 
of  work  for  Uncle  Frank  and  the  cowboys. 

The  corral,  or  yard  where  the  half -tamed 
horses  were  kept  while  they  were  being  got 
ready  to  send  away,  was  closed  by  a  large 
gate,  but  one  easy  to  open  if  you  knew  how. 
All  one  had  to  do  was  to  pull  on  a  little  han- 
dle, which  snapped  a  spring  and  the  gate 
would  swing  open. 

Horses  and  cattle  could  not  open  the  gate, 
for  they  could  not  reach  the  handle,  even  if 
any  of  them  had  known  enough  to  do  any- 
thing like  that. 

But  Trouble  had  watched  Uncle  Frank  or 

some  of  the  cowboys  open  the  gate  by  pull- 

189 


190    The  Curlytops  at  Uncle  Frank's  Ranch 

ing  on  the  handle;  and  now  he  did  it  him- 
self. Then,  of  course,  when  the  ponies  saw 
the  open  gate  they  raced  out. 

"Get  after  'em!"  cried  Uncle  Frank  who 
came  galloping  up  on  his  horse  to  find  out 
what  was  the  matter.  ' '  Get  after  the  ponies, 
boys !  Round  them  up ! " 

"Round  up,"  is  what  cowboys  call  riding 
around  a  lot  of  horses  or  cattle  to  keep  the 
animals  in  one  place  or  to  drive  them  where 
they  should  go.  Uncle  Frank  wanted  his 
cowboys  to  ride  after  the  runaway  ponies 
and  drive  them  back  into  the  corral. 

As  the  wild  little  horses  trotted  out 
through  the  gate,  behind  which  Trouble 
stood,  well  out  of  danger,  the  cowboys  rode 
after  them,  yelling  and  shouting  and  shoot- 
ing their  revolvers. 

"What  a  lot  of  noise!"  cried  Janet,  cov- 
ering her  ears  with  her  hands  as  she  got 
down  off  the  fence. 

"I  like  it!"  laughed  Teddy.  "It's  like  a 
Wild  West  show!" 

Indeed  it  was,  in  a  way,  but  it  meant  a 
lot  of  work  for  Uncle  Frank  and  his  men. 
For  all  the  ponies  ran  out  of  the  corral  and 
were  scattering  over  the  prairie. 

"Oh,   Trouble!  did  you  let  the  horses 


On  the  Trail  191 


out  ?"  asked  Janet,  as  her  little  brother  came 
out  from  behind  the  gate  and  toddled  toward 
her  and  Ted.  The  runaway  horses  were  now 
well  out  of  the  way.  "Did  you  open  the 
gate!" 

"Yes.  I  did  open  gate,"  Trouble  an- 
swered, smiling. 

"What  for?"  asked  Teddy. 

"Help  little  horses  get  out,"  said  Trouble. 
"Them  want  to  get  out  and  Trouble  help 
them.  Trouble 'ike  ponies!" 

"Oh,  but,  my  dear,  you  shouldn't  have 
done  it!"  chided  Mother  Martin,  who  had 
come  out  of  the  house  to  find  out  what  all 
the  excitement  was  about.  "That  was  very 
naughty  of  you.  See  all  the  work  you  have 
made  for  Uncle  Frank  and  his  men." 

"Horses  run  out  when  Trouble  open 
gate,"  was  the  only  reply  Baby  William 
made. 

' '  Yes,  I  know, ' '  went  on  his  mother.  *  *  But 
it  was  wrong !  You  must  never  again  open 
any  gates  on  Uncle  Frank's  ranch.  Just 
think — the  horses  might  have  stepped  on 
you  or  kicked  you!" 

"We  didn't  see  him  near  the  gate  or  we'd 
have  stopped  him,"  put  in  Teddy. 

"That's  true,"  added  Janet.    "The  first 


192     The  Curly  tops  at  Uncle  Frank's  Ranch 

we  saw  was  the  ponies  going  out,  and  then 
we  saw  Trouble  behind  the  gate/7 

"He  didn't  mean  to  be  bad,"  said  his 
mother,  as  she  carried  him  back  to  the  house, 
"but  he  has  made  a  lot  of  work.  I'll  have 
to  punish  him  by  not  letting  him  out  to  play 
for  an  hour  or  so.  Then  he'll  remember  not 
to  open  gates  again,  whether  he  thinks  he  is 
helping  horses  or  not." 

And,  though  Trouble  cried  very  hard,  he 
was  kept  in  the  house.  For,  as  his  mother 
had  said,  he  must  have  something  to  make 
him  remember  not  to  do  such  a  thing 
again. 

Meanwhile  Uncle  Frank  and  the  cow- 
boys were  busy  rounding  up  the  runaway 
ponies.  The  little  horses,  tired  of  being 
cooped  up  in  the  corral,  raced  about,  kick- 
ing up  their  heels  and  glad  to  be  out  on  the 
prairie  again.  But  the  cowboys  knew  how 
to  handle  them. 

Around  and  around  the  drove  of  half -wild 
ponies  rode  the  yelling  and  shouting  men, 
firing  off  many  blank  cartridges  to  scare  the 
little  animals  back  into  the  corral. 

Some  of  the  ponies,  frightened  by  the 
noise,  did  turn  back.  They  ran  up  to  the 
corral  gate,  which  was  still  open,  and  sniffed 


On  the  Trail  193 


at  the  fence.  They  may  have  said  to  them- 
selves : 

"We  don't  like  it,  being  shut  up  in  there, 
but  maybe  we'll  have  to  go  back  in,  for  we 
don't  like  being  shouted  at,  and  we  don't  like 
the  bang-bang  noises  like  thunder." 

But,  even  when  some  of  the  ponies  had 
run  back  as  far  as  the  corral  gate  they  did 
not  go  in.  Once  again  they  turned  around 
and  would  have  galloped  across  the  prairie 
again.  But  Uncle  Frank  shouted: 

"Get  after  them,  boys  I  Drive  those  few 
in  and  the  rest  will  follow  after  like  sheep  I 
Get  after  them  I" 

So  the  cowboys  rode  up  on  their  own  swift 
ponies,  that  seemed  to  be  having  a  good  time, 
and  then  the  other  ponies  nearest  the  corral 
gate  were  turned  in  through  it.  Then  as 
the  rest  were  driven  up  they  did  as  the  first 
ones  had  done  and  galloped  back  where  they 
had  been  before  Trouble  let  them  out. 

One  after  another  the  ponies  ran  back 
into  the  corral  until  every  one  was  there. 
Then  Uncle  Frank  closed  the  gate,  and  this 
time  he  locked  it  so  that  no  one  could  open 
it  without  the  key.  But  no  one  would  try, 
not  even  Trouble,  for,  crying  and  sobbing 
to  be  allowed  to  go  out  and  play,  he  had 


194     The  Curly  tops  at  Uncle  Frank's  Ranch 

been  given  a  lesson  that  he  would  not  soon 
forget. 

"Fm  sorry  I  had  to  punish  him,"  said 
Mother  Martin  to  the  Curlytops,  when  they 
came  in  after  the  ponies  were  once  more  ii?! 
the  corral,  "but  I  just  had  to.  Work  on  n 
ranch  is  hard  enough  without  little  boys  lei  - 
ting  the  horses  run  wild  after  they  have  one  e 
been  caught." 

"Oh,  well,  no  great  harm  was  done,"  s*id 
Uncle  Frank  with  a  good-natured  lauj/h, 
"though  it  did  make  us  ride  pretty  hard  for 
a  while.  Come  on,  Trouble,  I'll  take  you 
ponyback!" 

This  was  what  Trouble  liked,  and  he  £oon 
dried  his  tears  and  sat  on  the  saddle  in  front 
of  Uncle  Frank  as  happy  as  could  be.  Janet 
and  Ted  got  out  their  ponies,  and  rode  with 
Uncle  Frank  and  Trouble  around  the  out- 
side of  the  corral,  looking  at  the  little  horses 
inside  the  fence.  They  were  quieter  now, 
and  were  eating  some  oats  the  cowboys  had 
put  out  for  them. 

Two  or  three  days  after  this,  when  the 
ponies  had  been  driven  away  to  the  railroad 
station  to  be  shipped  to  a  far-off  state,  a 
cowboy  came  riding  in  with  news  that  he  had 
seen  a  band  of  two  or  three  Indians  pass 


On  the  Trail  195 


along  the  prairie  near  the  rocks  where 
Teddy  and  J  anet  had  found  Clipclap. 

"If  we  ride  after  them,"  said  the  cow- 
boy, "maybe  we  can  find  where  the  other 
Indians  are,  and  where  they  have  hidden 
your  horses  and  cattle,  Mr.  Barton." 

"That's  it!"  exclaimed  Uncle  Frank. 
"We'll  get  on  the  trail  after  these  Indians. 
I'm  sure  they  must  have  some  of  my  animals 
hidden  away  in  the  hills,  for  I  would  have 
heard  of  it  if  they  had  sold  them  around 
here.  We'll  get  on  the  trail!" 

"What's  the  trail,  Daddy?"  asked  Teddy 
of  his  father. 

"Oh,  it  means  the  marks  the  Indians' 
ponies  may  have  left  in  the  soft  ground," 
said  Mr.  Martin.  "Uncle  Frank  and  his 
cowboys  will  try  to  trail,  or  follow,  the 
marks  of  the  horses'  feet,  and  see  where  the 
Indians  have  gone." 

"Can't  I  come?"  asked  Teddy.  "I  can 
ride  good  now!" 

"Oh,  no  indeed  you  can't  go!"  cried 
Mother  Martin.  "Are  you  going?"  she 
asked  her  husband. 

"Yes,"  he  answered.  "I  think  I'll  go  on 
the  trail  with  Uncle  Frank." 


CHAPTER  XVII 

THE  CURLYTOPS  ALONE 

TEDDY  and  Janet  sat  on  a  bench  outside 
the  cowboys '  bunkhouse,  as  their  father, 
Uncle  Frank  and  a  number  of  the  ranchmen 
rode  away  over  the  prairies  on  the  trail  of 
the  Indians.  The  Curlytops  did  not  seem 
very  happy. 

" Don't  you  wish  we  could  go,  Jan?" 
asked  Teddy,  after  he  and  his  sister  had  sat 
in  silence  for  some  time. 

"I  just  guess  I  do!"  she  exclaimed.  "I 
can  ride  good,  too.  Almost  as  good  as  you, 
Ted,  and  I  don't  see  why  we  couldn't  go !" 

"Yes,  you  ride  nice,  Jan,"  said  her 
brother.  "But  I  thought  you  were  afraid  of 
Indians." 

"I  used  to  be,  but  I'm  not  any  more. 
Anyway,  if  you'd  stay  with  me  I  wouldn't 
be.  And,  anyhow,  TJncle  Frank  says  the 

Indians  won't  hurt  us." 

196 


The  Curly  tops  Alone 197 

" Course  they  won't!  I'm  not  afraid! 
I'd  go  on  the  trail  after  'em  if  they'd  let  us." 

"So  would  I.  We  could  throw  stones  at 
'em  if  they  tried  to  hurt  us,  Teddy. " 

"Yes.  Or  we  could  ride  our  ponies  fast 
and  get  away.  Uncle  Frank  told  me  the 
Indians  didn't  have  any  good  ponies,  and 
that's  why  they  took  his." 

"But  we  can't  go,"  said  Janet  with  a  sigh. 

"No ;  we've  got  to  stay  at  home." 

A  little  later  a  cowboy  came  limping  out 
of  the  bunkhouse.  His  name  was  Sim  Body, 
but  all  his  friends  called  him  "Baldy"  be- 
cause he  had  so  little  hair  on  his  head. 

"Hello,  Curly  tops !"  cried  Baldy  in  a  jolly 
voice,  for  he  was  always  good-natured. 
Even  now  he  was  jolly,  though  he  had  a  lame 
foot  where  a  horse  had  stepped  on  it.  That 
is  why  he  was  not  on  the  trail  after  the  In- 
dians with  the  other  cowboys. 

"Hello,"  answered  Teddy,  but  he  did  not 
speak  in  a  jolly  voice. 

"Why,  what's  the  matter?"  asked  Baldy 
with  a  laugh,  as  he  limped  to  the  bench  and 
sat  down  near  the  two  children.  "You  act 
as  sad  and  gloomy  as  if  there  wasn't  a 
Christmas  or  a  New  Year's  any  more,  to  say 
nothing  of  Fourth  of  July  and  birthdays! 


198     The  Curly  tops  at  Uncle  Frank's  Ranch 

What's  the  matter?  Seems  to  me,  if  I  had 
all  the  nice,  curly  hair  you  two  have,  I'd  be 
as  happy  as  a  horned  toad  and  I'd  go  around 
singing  all  day  long,"  and  Baldy  rubbed  his 
hand  over  his  own  smooth  head  and  laughed. 

"I  don't  like  my  hair,"  grumbled  Teddy. 
"It's  always  getting  snarled  and  the  comb 
gets  stuck  in  it." 

"And  it  does  in  mine,  too,"  added  Janet. 
"And  mother  pulls  when  she  tries  to  un- 
tangle it.  Mine's  longer  than  Ted's." 

"Yes,  and  nicer,  for  that  reason,"  went  on 
Baldy.  "Though  I'd  be  glad  if  I  had  even 
half  of  yours,  Teddy.  But  never  mind  about 
that.  I  won't  take  your  hair,  though  I'd 
like  to  know  what  makes  you  both  so  gloomy- 
like.  Can't  you  smile?" 

Ted  and  Janet  could  not  help  laughing  at 
Baldy,  he  seemed  so  funny.  He  was  a  good 
friend  of  theirs. 

"We  can't  go  on  the  trail  after  Indians," 
said  Janet.  "We  want  to  go,  but  we've  got 
to  stay  here." 

"And  we  can  ride  our  ponies  good,  too," 
went  on  Teddy.  "Uncle  Frank  said  we 
could." 

"Yes,  you're  getting  to  be  pretty  good  rid- 
ers," admitted  Baldy.  "But  that  isn't  say- 


The  Curly  tops  Alone  199 

ing  you're  big  enough  to  go  on  a  trail  after 
Indians.  Of  course  these  Indians  may  not 
be  very  bad,  and  maybe  they  aren't  the  ones 
that  took  our  horses.  But  riding  on  a  trail 
takes  a  long  while,  and  maybe  the  boys  will 
be  out  all  night  in  the  open.  You  wouldn't 
like  that." 

"We  went  camping  with  our  grandpa 
once,"  declared  Teddy. 

"And  we  slept  in  a  tent,"  added  his  sister. 

"And  we  saw  a  funny  blue  light  and  we 
thought  it  was  a  ghost  but  it  wasn't,"  con- 
tinued Teddy. 

"Hum!  A  ghost,  eh?"  laughed  Baldy. 
"Well,  I've  never  been  on  a  trail  after  one  of 
them,  but  I've  trailed  Indians — and  helped 
catch  'em,  too." 

"How  do  you  do  it?"  asked  Teddy  eag- 
erly. 

"Well,  you  just  keep  on  riding — follow- 
ing the  trail  you  know — until  you  catch  up 
to  those  you're  after.  Sometimes  you  can't 
see  any  marks  on  the  ground  and  you  have 
to  guess  at  it." 

"And  do  the  Indians  ride  on  ahead  and 
try  to  get  away?"  asked  Janet. 

"Indeed  they  do.  When  they  know  we're 
after  'em  they  ride  as  fast  as  they  can.  That 


200     The  Curlytops  at  Uncle  Frank's  Ranch 

is,  if  they've  done  wrong,  like  taking  horses 
or  cattle  that  aren't  theirs.  We  just  keep 
chasing  'em  until  we  get  close  enough  to  ar- 
rest 'em." 

"It's  like  a  game  of  tag,  isn't  if?"  asked 
Janet. 

"Well,  yes,  you  could  call  it  sort  of  like 
that,"  admitted  Baldy,  with  another  laugh. 
"But  it's  a  kind  of  game  of  tag  that  little 
boys  and  girls  can't  very  well  play." 

"Not  even  when  they  have  ponies  ?"  asked 
Teddy. 

"Well,  of  course,  having  a  pony  makes  it 
easier  to  keep  on  the  trail.  You  couldn't  go 
very  far  walking  over  the  prairies — at  least 
none  of  us  do.  We  all  ride.  But  I'll  tell 
you  some  stories  about  cowboys  and  Indians 
and  that  will  amuse  you  for  a  while.  Like 
to  hear  'em?" 

"Oh,  yes!"  cried  Teddy. 

"Very  much,  thank  you,"  added  Janet,  a 
little  more  politely  but  still  just  as  eagerly 
as  her  brother. 

So  Baldy,  sitting  on  the  bench  in  front 
of  the  bunkhouse  and  resting  his  lame  foot 
on  a  saddle  on  the  ground,  told  the  Curly- 
tops  stories  of  his  cowboy  life — of  sleeping 
out  on  the  prairies  keeping  watch  over  the 


The  Curlytops  Alone  201 

cattle,  of  Indians  or  other  bad  men  who 
would  come  and  try  to  steal  them,  and  how 
he  and  his  friends  had  to  give  chase  to  get 
the  steers  or  ponies  back. 

"Did  you  ever  get  captured  by  the  In- 
dians?" asked  Teddy. 

"Well,  yes,  once  I  was,"  answered  the 
cowboy. 

"Oh,  tell  us  about  it!"  begged  the  little 
Curlytop  chap.  i  i  I  love  to  hear  stories  about 
Indians!  Don't  you,  Jan?" 

"I  like  stories — yes,"  said  the  little  girl. 
"But  if  you're  going  to  tell  a  story  about 
Indians,  Mr.  Baldy,  maybe  it'll  be  a  scary 
one,  and  I  don't  like  scary  stories." 

"I  do!"  exclaimed  Ted.  "The  scarier 
they  are  the  better  I  like  'em!" 

Baldy  laughed  as  he  said : 

"Well,  I  guess,  seeing  as  how  the  little 
lady  doesn't  like  scary  stories,  I'd  better  tell 
one  that  isn't.  We  must  please  the  ladies, 
you  know,  Teddy." 

"Oh,  yes,  I  know*  that,"  the  little  boy 
said.  "But  after  you  tell  the  not-scary 
story,  Mr.  Baldy,  couldn't  you  tell  me  one 
that  is  scary — a  real,  terrible  scary  one. 
You  can  take  me  out  behind  the  barn  where 
Jan  can't  hear  it." 


202     The  Curlytops  at  Uncle  Frank's  Ranch 

"Well,  maybe  I  could  do  that,"  agreed  the 
good-natured  cowboy,  laughing  at  the  Curly- 
tops.  "Now  then  for  the  not-scary  story." 

"And  you  don't  have  to  take  Teddy  out 
behind  the  barn  to  tell  him  the  scary  one," 
put  in  Janet.  "You  could  stay  here,  and  I 
could  cover  up  my  ears  with  my  hands  when 
you  came  to  the  terrible  parts,  couldn't  I? 
Is  there  any  parts  in  it  that  isn't  scary  ?  I'd 
like  to  hear  them,  Mr.  Baldy." 

"Well,  I  guess  we  can  fix  it  that  way," 
said  the  cowboy.  "Now  the  first  story  I'm 
going  to  tell  you,  is  how  I  was  captured  by 
the  Indians,"  and  the  children  sat  closer  to 
him  and  waited  eagerly. 

"Once  upon  a  time,"  said  Baldy,  "a  lot 
of  Indians  lived  not  far  from  the  house 
where  I  lived." 

"Weren't  you  afraid?"  asked  Janet. 

"Please  don't  ask  questions  till  he  tells 
the  story,"  begged  Teddy. 

"All  right,"  agreed  his  sister,  and  Baldy 
went  on : 

"No,  I  wasn't  much  afraid,  or  if  I  was 
I've  forgotten  it  now,  as  it  was  quite  a  while 
ago.  Anyhow,  one  day  I  was  out  on  the 
prairie,  picking  flowers,  I  think,  for  I  know 
I  used  to  like  flowers,  and,  all  of  a  sudden, 


The  Curly  tops  Alone  203 

along  came  a  lot  of  Indians  on  horses,  and 
one  of  them  picked  me  up  and  took  me  right 
away  with  him,  on  the  horse  in  front  of 
him. 

"The  horse  was  a  strong  one,  and  could 
easily  carry  both  of  us,  and  though  I  wig- 
gled around  a  good  bit  and  yelled,  the  In- 
dian didn't  let  go  of  me.  On  and  on  he 
rode,  carrying  me  off,  and  the  other  Indians 
rode  ahead  of  us,  and  on  either  side.  I 
couldn't  get  away,  no  matter  how  I  tried. 

"After  a  while  the  Indians,  who  had  been 
out  hunting,  came  to  where  their  tents  were. 
This  was  their  camp,  and  then  I  was  lifted 
down  off  the  horse  and  given  to  a  squaw." 

Teddy  simply  had  to  ask  some  questions 
now. 

"A  squaw  is  a  Indian  lady,  isn't  she?" 

"Yes,"  answered  Baldy,  "that's  what  she 
is." 

"Well,  I  shouldn't  think  she'd  want  to 
take  you,"  went  on  the  little  boy.  "I 
thought  the  Indian  men  always  kept  the 
prisoners,  and  you  were  a  prisoner,  weren't 
you?" 

"Yes,"  answered  Baldy,  and  there  was  a 
queer  smile  on  his  face,  "but  I  guess  I  for- 
got to  tell  you  that  the  time  I  was  captured 


204     The  Curlytops  at  Uncle  Frank's  Ranch 

by  the  Indians  I  was  a  little  boy,  not  as  big 
as  you,  Curlytop.  And  the  reason  they 
picked  me  up  off  the  prairie  was  that  I  had 
wandered  away  from  my  home  and  was  lost. 
So  the  nice  squaw  kept  me  until  one  of  the 
Indian  men  had  time  to  take  me  home." 

"Then  didn't  the  Indians  hurt  you?" 
asked  Janet. 

"Not  a  bit.  They  were  very  good  to  me," 
the  cowboy  said.  "Some  of  them  knew  my 
father  and  mother.  That's  the  only  time 
I  was  ever  captured  by  the  Indians,  and  I'm 
afraid  it  wasn't  very  much  of  a  story." 

"Oh,  it  was  very  nice,"  said  Teddy  po- 
litely. 

"And  not  a  bit  scary,  except  a  little  teeny 
bit  at  first,"  added  Janet.  "Can  you  tell  us 
another,  Mr.  Baldy?" 

"Well,  I  guess  I  can,"  said  the  good-na- 
tured cowboy.  So  he  told  other  tales  of  what 
had  happened  to  him  on  the  prairies,  for  he 
had  lived  in  the  West  all  his  life,  and  knew 
much  about  it. 

Teddy  and  Janet  were  very  glad  to  hear 
these  stories,  but  listening  to  them  made  Ted, 
at  least,  wish  all  the  more  that  he  could  have 
gone  with  his  father  and  his  Uncle  Frank 
on  the  trail  after  the  Indians. 


The  Curly  tops  Alone  205 

Then  Baldy  was  called  away  by  another 
cowboy,  who  wanted  to  ask  him  something 
about  a  sick  horse,  and  Teddy  and  Janet 
were  called  by  their  mother  to  take  care  of 
Trouble  for  a  while. 

It  was  still  morning,  the  cowboys  having 
ridden  away  before  dinner.  They  had  taken 
with  them  enough  to  eat,  even  if  they  had  to 
stay  out  all  night. 

"I  wants  a  wide!"  announced  Trouble, 
when  his  brother  and  sister  came  in  to  get 
him. 

"  Could  we  give  him  a  little  ride  on  our 
ponies?"  asked  Teddy  of  his  mother. 

"Yes,  I  think  so.  But  don't  go  far  away 
from  the  stable.  Are  any  of  the  cowboys 
out  there  to  help  you  saddle?" 

Saddling,  which  meant  buckling  the 
leather  seat  tightly  around  the  pony,  was 
something  Teddy  and  Janet  could  not  yet  do 
very  well  for  themselves.  It  takes  strong 
fingers  to  tighten  the  straps. 

"Yes,  Baldy  is  out  there,"  Janet  said. 

"How  often  have  I  told  you  not  to  call 
the  men  by  their  nicknames  ?"  asked  Mother 
Martin  with  a  smile.  "It  isn't  nice  for  chil- 
dren to  do  that." 

"But,  please,  Mother,  we  don't  know  his 


206 


other  name  very  well,"  said  Teddy.  " Ev- 
ery body  calls  him  Baldy." 

"Yes,  that's  right,"  agreed  Aunt  Millie. 
"I  do  myself.  I  guess  he  doesn't  mind." 

"Very  well,  if  he'll  saddle  your  ponies  for 
you,  take  Trouble  for  a  little  ride,"  agreed 
Mrs.  Martin.  "But  be  careful." 

The  Curlytops  said  they  would,  and  they 
were  soon  taking  turns  riding  Trouble  on 
the  saddles  in  front  of  them.  Clipclap  and 
Star  Face  liked  the  children  and  were  well- 
behaved  ponies,  so  there  was  no  danger  in 
putting  Trouble  on  the  back  of  either  as  long 
as  Ted  or  Janet  held  him. 

"But  don't  go  riding  off  with  him  on  the 
trail  after  the  Indians,"  said  Baldy,  play- 
fully shaking  his  finger  at  the  Curlytops. 

"We  won't!"  they  promised. 

Up  and  down  on  the  paths  among  the 
ranch  buildings  rode  the  children.  Trouble 
was  allowed  to  hold  the  ends  of  the  reins, 
and  he  thought  he  was  guiding  the  ponies, 
but  really  Teddy  and  Janet  did  that. 

But  finally  even  such  fun  as  riding  pony- 
back  tired  Trouble.  He  wanted  something 
else  to  do,  and  said : 

"Le's  go  an'  s'ide  downhill  on  hay  in  de 
barn." 


The  Curly  tops  Alone  207 

Teddy  and  Janet  knew  what  that  meant. 
They  had  learned  this  kind  of  fun  at  Grand- 
pa Martin's  Cherry  Farm.  Here,  on  Ring 
Rosy  Ranch,  there  was  a  large  barn  filled 
with  hay,  and  there  was  plenty  of  room  to 
slide  down  in  the  mow,  or  place  where  the 
hay  was  put  away. 

"Come  on!"  cried  Janet.  "Well  give 
him  a  good  slide,  Teddy." 

A  little  later  the  Curly  tops  and  Baby  Wil- 
liam were  laughing  and  shouting  in  the  barn, 
rolling  down  and  tumbling  over  one  another, 
but  not  getting  hurt,  for  the  hay  was  too 
soft. 

Pretty  soon  the  dinner  horn  blew  and, 
with  good  appetites  from  their  morning's 
fun,  the  children  hurried  in  to  get  something 
to  eat. 

"This  is  a  good  dinner!"  announced 
Teddy  as  he  passed  his  plate  a  second  time. 

"Yes,"  agreed  Mother  Martin.  "I  hope 
your  father  and  the  cowboys  have  as  good." 

"Oh,  they'll  have  plenty — never  fear!" 
laughed  Uncle  Frank's  wife.  "They  never 
go  hungry  when  they're  on  the  trail." 

After  dinner  Trouble  went  to  sleep,  as  he 
generally  did,  and  Teddy  and  Janet  were 
left  to  themselves  to  find  amusement. 


208     The  Curlytops  at  Uncle  Frank's  Ranch 

"Let's  go  for  another  ride,"  suggested 
Teddy. 

"All  right,"  agreed  Janet. 

The  saddles  had  not  been  taken  off  their 
ponies.  Their  mother  and  Aunt  Millie  saw 
them  go  out  and,  supposing  they  were  only 
going  to  ride  around  the  barn  and  ranch 
buildings,  as  they  had  done  before,  said  noth- 
ing to  them. 

But  Ted  was  no  sooner  in  the  saddle  than 
he  turned  to  his  sister  and  said : 

"Jan,  why  can't  we  go  riding  the  trail 
after  the  Indians'?" 

"What!    We  two  alone?" 

"Yes.  We  know  the  way  over  to  the  rocks 
where  we  found  Clipclap  in  the  cave,  and 
from  there  we  can  ride  farther  on,  just  like 
daddy  and  Uncle  Frank.  Come  on!" 

Janet  thought  for  a  minute.  She  wanted 
to  go  as  much  as  did  Teddy.  It  did  not  seem 
very  wrong. 

"Well,  we'll  ride  a  little  way,"  she  said. 
"But  weVe  got  to  come  back  before  dark." 

"All  right,"  agreed  Teddy.    "We  will!" 

And  the  Curlytops  rode  away  over  the 
prairie. 


CHAPTER  XVIII 

LOST 

CLIPCLAP  and  Star  Face,  the  two  sturdy 
little  ponies,  trotted  bravely  along,  carrying 
Teddy  and  Janet  on  their  backs.  The  ponies 
did  not  wonder  where  they  were  going — 
they  hardly  ever  did  that.  They  were  satis- 
fied to  go  wherever  their  master  or  mistress 
guided  them,  for  they  knew  the  children 
would  be  good  to  them. 

"Do  you  s'pose  we'll  find  any  Indians'?" 
asked  Janet  after  a  while. 

" Maybe, "  answered  Teddy.  "Are  you 
scared?" 

"No,"  replied  his  sister  slowly.  "I  was 
just  thinking  maybe  we  could  find  'em,  and 
get  back  Uncle  Frank's  horses,  even  if  the 
cowboys  didn't." 

"Maybe  we  could!"  cried  Teddy.  "That 
would  be  great!  Wouldn't  daddy  be  sur- 
prised 1" 

209 


"And  Uncle  Frank,  too!"  added  Janet. 

"Yes,  and  the  cowboys!  Then  they'd 
think  we  could  ride  all  right  I"  went  on  Ted. 
' '  Come  on,  let 's  hurry !  Gid-dap ! ' '  he  called 
to  Clipclap. 

"Where  are  we  going  first?"  asked  Janet. 

"To  the  rocks,  where  we  found  my  pony 
in  the  cave,"  answered  her  brother,  as  he 
patted  the  little  animal  on  the  neck.  "The 
cowboy  said  he  saw  the  Indians  near  there." 

"Maybe  they're  hiding  in  the  cave,"  sug- 
gested Janet. 

"No,  they  wouldn't  do  that,"  Teddy  de- 
cided, after  thinking  it  over  awhile. 
"They'd  be  afraid  to  stay  so  near  Uncle 
Frank's  ranch.  Anyhow  the  cave  isn't  big 
enough." 

"It  was  big  enough  for  Clipclap." 

"Yes,  but  he's  a  little  pony.  Anyhow, 
we'll  look  in  the  cave  and  then  we'll  ride  on 
along  the  trail  until  we  catch  up  to  daddy 
and  Uncle  Frank." 

"What '11  they  say?" 

"I  guess  they'll  be  s 'prised." 

"Maybe  they'll  make  us  go  back." 

"Well,  if  they  do  we'll  have  some  fun, 
anyhow,"  said  Teddy,  laughing.  "Gid-*iap, 
Clipclap." 


Lost 211 

"It's  a  good  thing  we've  two  ponies  in- 
stead of  one  goat,"  remarked  Janet,  after 
they  had  ridden  on  a  little  farther. 

" Course  it  is,"  agreed  Ted.  "We  couldn't 
both  ride  Nicknack,  though  he  could  pull  us 
both  in  the  wagon." 

11  Maybe  he'd  be  afraid  of  Indians,"  sug- 
gested Janet. 

"No,  I  don't  guess  he  would,"  answered 
Teddy,  after  some  reflection.  "  Nicknack 's 
a  brave  goat.  I  like  him.  But  I  like  Clip- 
clap,  too." 

"And  I  like  Star  Face,"  added  Janet. 
"He's  an  awful  nice  pony." 

On  and  on  the  ponies  trotted,  carrying  the 
Curlytops  farther  and  farther  from  the  Ring 
Rosy  Ranch  house.  But  the  children  were 
not  afraid.  The  sun  was  shining  brightly, 
and  they  had  often  before  ridden  this  far 
alone.  They  could  look  back  at  the  ranch 
buildings  when  they  got  on  top  of  the  little 
hills  with  which  the  prairie  was  dotted,  and 
they  were  not  lonesome. 

Off  on  either  side  they  could  see  groups 
of  horses  or  cattle  that  belonged  to  Uncle 
Frank,  and  Ted  and  Janet  thought  there 
must  be  cowboys  with  the  herds. 

"I'm  going  to  get  a  drink  when  we  get 


*?" '      The  Curly  tops  at  Uncle  Frank's  Ranch 

*o  the  rocks,"  said  Janet,  as  they  came 
within  sight  of  the  pile  of  big  stones. 

"Yes.  And  we'll  give  the  ponies  some, 
too,"  agreed  her  brother.  "I  guess  they're 
thirsty." 

Indeed  the  little  animals  were  thirsty,  and 
after  they  had  rested  a  while — for  Uncle 
Frank  had  told  the  children  it  was  not  wise 
to  let  a  horse  or  pony  drink  when  it  was 
too  warm — Clipclap  and  Star  Face  had  some 
of  the  cool  water  that  bubbled  up  among  the 
rocks. 

"It  tastes  awful  good!"  exclaimed  Janet, 
as  she  took  some  from  the  cup  Ted  filled  for 
her. 

After  Clipclap  had  been  found  at  the 
spring,  the  time  he  was  hidden  in  the  cave, 
one  of  the  cowboys  had  brought  a  tin  cup 
to  the  spring,  leaving  it  there,  so  if  anyone 
passed  the  spring  it  would  be  easy  to  get  a 
drink  without  having  to  use  a  hat  or  kneel 
down  on  the  ground.  For  horses  and  cattle 
there  was  a  little  rocky  basin  into  which  the 
cool  water  flowed. 

"I  wish  we  could  take  some  of  the  water 
with  us,"  said  Teddy,  when,  after  a  rest, 
they  were  ready  to  follow  the  trail  again. 

"If  we  had  a  bottle,  like  some  of  the  cow- 


^ Lost 213 

boys  carry,  we  could, "  remarked  Janet. 
" Maybe  we'll  get  awful  thirsty  if  we  ride  on 
a  long  way,  Ted." 

"Maybe  we  will,  but  maybe  we  can  find 
another  spring.  I  heard  Uncle  Frank  say 
there's  more  than  one  on  the  ranch.  Come 
on!" 

The  children  took  another  drink,  and  of- 
fered some  to  the  ponies,  each  of  which  took 
a  little.  Then,  once  more,  the  Curlytops 
were  on  the  trail  after  the  Indians,  as  they 
believed. 

"Which  way  do  we  go  now ?"  asked  Janet, 
as  she  watched  Teddy  get  up  in  his  saddle 
after  he  had  helped  her  mount  Star  Pace. 

"We've  got  to  follow  the  trail,"  Teddy  an- 
swered. 

"How  do  we  do  it?"  his  sister  inquired. 

"Well,  I  asked  Baldy  and  he  said  just  look 
on  the  ground  for  tracks  in  the  dirt.  You 
know  the  kind  of  marks  a  horse's  foot  makes, 
don't  you,  Jan?" 

"Yes,  and  I  see  some  down  here,"  and  she 
pointed  to  the  ground. 

"That's  them!"  exclaimed  Teddy. 
"We've  got  to  follow  the  marks !  That's  the 
trail!" 

"Is  this  the  Indians'  trail?"  asked  the  lit- 


214 


tie  girl,  and  she  looked  over  her  shoulder, 
perhaps  to  make  sure  no  one  was  following 
her  and  her  brother. 

"I  don't  know  if  it's  the  Indians'  trail, 
or,  maybe,  the  marks  left  by  Uncle  Frank 
and  daddy,"  said  Teddy.  " Anyhow  we've 
got  to  follow  the  trail.  That's  what  Baldy 
said." 

"He  doesn't  know  we  came  off  alone,  does 
he?"  asked  Janet. 

"No.  I  guess  he  wouldn't  have  let  us  if 
he  did.  But  we  won't  have  to  go  very  far, 
and  then  we'll  catch  up  to  the  rest.  Then 
they'll  have  to  take  us  with  'em." 

"Yes,"  said  Janet,  and  she  rode  along  be- 
side her  brother. 

Neither  of  the  Curlytops  stopped  to  think 
that  their  father,  Uncle  Frank  and  the  cow- 
boys had  started  off  early  that  morning,  and 
must  have  ridden  on  many  miles  ahead.  The 
cowboys'  horses,  too,  could  go  faster  than  the 
ponies  Star  Face  and  Clipclap,  for  the 
larger  horses  had  longer  legs. 

All  Teddy  and  Janet  thought  of  was  hur- 
rying along  as  fast  as  they  could  go,  in  order 
to  catch  up  to  the  Indian  hunters.  What 
would  happen  after  that  they  did  not  know. 

All  at  once,  as  the  Curlytops  were  riding 


Lost 215 

along,  they  heard  what  they  thought  was  a 
whistle. 

"Some  one  is  calling  us,"  said  Janet,  turn- 
ing to  look  back.  ; '  Did  you  hear  that,  Ted  ? ' ' 

* '  Yes,  I  heard  a  whistle.  Maybe  it 's  Uncle 
Frank,  or  some  of  the  cowboys." 

The  children  looked  across  the  prairie  but 
could  see  no  one.  They  were  about  to  go  on 
again  when  the  whistle  sounded  once  more. 

"That  is  some  one  calling  us,"  declared 
Jan.  "Let's  see  if  we  can't  find  who  it  is, 
Teddy." 

So  the  children  looked  around  again,  but 
no  one  was  in  sight,  and,  what  was  still 
stranger,  the  whistling  sound  kept  up. 

"It's  some  one  playing  a  joke  on  us,  and 
hiding  after  they  whistle,"  said  Janet. 
"Maybe  one  of  the  cowboys  from  the  ranch." 

"Maybe  an  Indian,"  said  Ted,  and  then 
he  was  sorry  he  had  said  that,  for  his  sister 
looked  frightened. 

"Oh !"  said  Janet,  "if  it's  an  Indian " 

"I  don't  guess  it  is,"  Teddy  hastened  to 
say.  "I  guess  Indians  don't  whistle,  any- 
how." 

This  made  Janet  feel  better  and  once 
more  she  and  her  brother  looked  around  to 
see  what  made  the  queer  whistling  sound, 


216     The  Curlytops  at  Uncle  Frank's  Ranch 

that  still  kept  up.  It  was  just  like  a  boy 
calling  to  another,  and  Teddy  was  quite 
puzzled  over  it  until  he  suddenly  saw  what 
was  doing  it. 

Perched  on  a  small  mound  of  earth  near 
a  hole  in  the  ground,  was  a  little  animal, 
about  as  big  as  a  large  rat,  though,  as  Janet 
said,  he  was  " nicer  looking."  And  as  Ted 
and  his  sister  looked,  they  saw  this  little  ani- 
mal move,  and  then  they  knew  he  it  was  that 
was  whistling. 

1  'Oh,  what  is  it?"  cried  Janet. 

"I  know,"  Teddy  answered.  " That's  a 
prairie  dog.  Baldy  told  me  about  them,  and 
how  they  whistled  when  they  saw  any  dan- 
ger." 

"Is  there  any  danger  here?"  asked  Janet, 
looking  around. 

"I  guess  the  prairie  dog  thinks  we're  the 
danger,"  said  Teddy.  "But  we  wouldn't 
hurt  him." 

"Does  he  live  down  in  that  hole?"  asked 
Janet. 

"Yes,  just  like  a  gopher,"  answered  her 
brother,  who  had  listened  to  the  cowboys  tell- 
ing about  the  little  prairie  dogs.  "And 
sometimes  there  are  snakes  or  an  owl  in  the 
same  hole  with  the  prairie  dog." 


Lost 217 

"Then  I'm  not  going  any  nearer,"  de- 
cided Janet.  "I  don't  mind  an  owl,  but  I 
don't  like  snakes!  Come  on,  Ted,  let's 
hurry." 

As  they  started  off,  the  prairie  dog,  which 
really  did  make  a  whistling  sound,  suddenly 
darted  down  inside  his  burrow  or  hole.  Per- 
haps he  thought  Teddy  and  Janet  were  com- 
ing to  carry  him  off,  but  they  were  not.  The 
children  saw  many  more  of  the  little  animals 
as  they  rode  over  the  prairies. 

"But  we  must  look  for  marks — tracks, 
Baldy  calls  them,"  said  Teddy.  "Tracks 
will  tell  us  which  way  the  Indians  went," 
and  so  the  children  kept  their  eyes  turned 
toward  the  sod  as  they  rode  along. 

For  a  while  they  could  see  many  marks  in 
the  soft  ground — the  marks  of  horses'  feet, 
some  shod  with  iron  shoes  and  others  bare, 
for  on  the  prairie  grass  there  is  not  the  same 
need  of  iron  shoes  on  the  hoofs  of  horses  as 
in  the  city,  with  its  hard,  paved  streets. 
Then  the  marks  were  not  so  plain;  and 
pretty  soon,  about  a  mile  from  the  spring 
amid  the  rocks  where  the  ground  was  quite 
hard,  Teddy  and  Janet  could  see  no  marks 
at  all. 

"Which  way  do  we  go?"  asked  Ted's  sis- 


218     The  Curlytops  at  Uncle  Frank's  Ranch 

ter,  as  he  called  to  his  pony  to  stop.  ' i  Do  you 
know  the  way?" 

"No,  I  don't  guess  I  do,"  he  answered. 
"But  anyhow  we  can  ride  along  and  maybe 
we'll  see  'em." 

"Yes,  we  can  do  that,"  Janet  said. 

It  was  still  early  in  the  afternoon,  and  the 
sun  was  shining  brightly.  They  knew  they 
were  still  on- Uncle  Frank's  ranch,  and, 
though  they  could  not  see  the  buildings  any 
more,  they  could  see  the  place  where  they 
had  had  a  drink  at  the  spring. 

"All  we've  got  to  do,  if  we  want  to  come 
back,"  observed  Teddy,  "is  ride  to  the  rocks 
and  then  we  know  the  way  home  from 
there." 

"Yes,  that's  easy,"  Janet  said. 

So  they  rode  on  and  on. 

Of  course  the  Curlytops  ought  not  to  have 
done  what  they  did,  but  they  did  not  think, 
any  more  than  Trouble  thought  when  he 
opened  the  corral  gate  and  let  out  the 
ponies. 

But  the  sun  did  not  stay  high  in  the  sky 
all  the  afternoon.  Presently  the  bright  ball 
of  fire  began  to  go  down  in  the  west,  and  the 
shadows  of  Teddy  and  Janet  grew  long  on 
the  prairie.  They  knew  what  those  long 


Lost 219 

shadows  meant — that  it  was  getting  late  af- 
ternoon. 

After  a  while  Janet  turned  in  her  saddle 
and  looked  back. 

"Oh,  Teddy!"  she  cried.  "I  can't  see  the 
spring  rocks/'  for  that  is  what  the  children 
had  called  the  place  where  they  had  found 
Clipclap. 

"They're  back  there  just  the  same." 

"I  know.  But  if  we  can't  see  'em  we 
won't  know  how  to  ride  back  to  them,"  went 
on  Janet.  "How  are  we  going  to  find  our 
way  back  home,  Ted?" 

"Oh,  I  can  get  to  the  rocks  when  I  want 
to, ' '  he  said.  ' '  Come  on,  we  '11  ride  a  little  bit 
farther  and  then,  if  we  can't  find  daddy  and 
Uncle  Frank,  we'll  go  back." 

"Well,  don't  go  much  farther,"  said 
Janet,  and  Teddy  said  he  would  not. 

There  were  many  hills  and  hollows  now, 
much  higher  and  deeper  ones  than  those  near 
the  ranch  buildings.  Even  from  the  top  of 
one  of  the  high  hills  up  which  the  ponies 
slowly  climbed,  the  Curlytops  could  not  see 
the  spring  rocks. 

"Oh,  Ted!"  exclaimed  Jan,  "I'm  afraid! 
I  want  to  go  back!  It's  going  to  be  night 
pretty  soon!" 


220    The  Curlytops  at  Uncle  Frank's  Ranch 

"It  won't  be  night  for  a  good  while,"  he 
said,  "but  I  guess  maybe  we'd  better  go  back. 
I  can't  see  daddy,  Uncle  Frank  or  the  cow- 
boys." 

He  raised  himself  in  the  stirrups  and 
looked  across  the  prairies,  shading  his  eyes 
with  his  hand  the  way  he  had  seen  some  of 
the  cowboys  do.  Nothing  was  in  sight. 

"Come  on,  Jan,  we'll  go  back,"  he  said. 

Clipclap  and  Star  Face  were  turned 
around.  Once  more  off  trotted  the  little 
ponies  with  the  Curlytops  on  their  backs. 

The  shadows  grew  longer.  It  was  not  so 
bright  and  nice  on  the  prairies  now.  Janet 
kept  close  to  Teddy.  At  last  she  asked : 

"Do  you  see  the  rocks?" 

"Not  yet,"  her  brother  answered.  "But 
we'll  soon  be  there." 

They  did  not  reach  them,  howe/er.  On 
and  on  they  rode.  The  sun  went  down  be- 
hind a  bank  of  clouds. 

"Oh,  dear!"  sighed  Janet,  "I  don't  like 
this,"  and  her  voice  sounded  as  if  she  were 
going  to  cry. 

"We'll  soon  be  back  at  the  rocks,  and  then 
I  know  the  way  home,"  said  Teddy,  as 
bravely  as  he  could. 

But  they  did  not  reach  the  rocks.    Up  the 


Lost 221 

hollows  and  across  the  hills  they  rode,  over 
the  broad  prairies,  but  no  rocks  did  they 
see.  At  last  the  ponies  began  to  go  more 
slowly,  for  they  were  tired.  It  grew  darker. 
Ted  looked  anxiously  about.  Janet  spoke 
softly  to  him. 

"Teddy,"  she  asked,  "are  we — are  we — 
lost?" 

For  a  moment  Teddy  did  not  answer. 
Then  he  replied  slowly : 

"Yes — I  guess  we  are  lost,  Janet!" 


CHAPTER  XIX 

THE  HIDDEN  VALLEY 

THE  Curlytops  were  in  trouble.  It  was 
not  the  first  time  they  had  been  lost,  no  in- 
deed! But  it  was  the  first  time  they  could 
remember  being  lost  so  far  away  from 
home,  and  in  such  a  big  place  as  a  Western 
prairie.  They  did  not  know  what  to  do. 

"Don't  you  know  the  way  home?"  asked 
Janet,  still  keeping  close  to  her  brother.  It 
was  getting  dark,  and,  somehow,  she  felt 
safer  near  him,  even  if  he  was  only  a  year 
older  than  she  was. 

"I'd  know  the  way  home  back  to  the  ranch 
house  if  we  could  find  the  rocks  with  the 
cave  where  Clipclap  was,"  Teddy  replied. 

"Let's  look  for  them  some  more,"  sug- 
gested Janet.  "If  we  don't  get  home  pretty 
soon  we'll  be  all  in  the  dark  and — and  we'll 
have  to  stay  out  here  all  alone." 

222 


The  Hidden  Valley 223 

"Are  you  afraid?"  asked  Ted,  looking  at 
his  sister. 

"Yes.    Won't  you  be?" 

*  'Pooh !  No ! "  he  exclaimed,  and  he  talked 
loudly,  perhaps  just  so  he  would  not  be 
afraid.  You  know  a  boy  always  whistles 
very  loudly  at  night  when  he  is  walking 
along  a  dark  place  alone.  And  if  there  are 
two  boys  they  both  whistle.  What  girls  do 
when  they  walk  through  a  dark  place  alone 
I  do  not  know.  Maybe  they  sing. 

Anyhow  Teddy  talked  very  loud,  and 
when  Janet  heard  him  say  he  was  not  afraid 
she  felt  better. 

"But  will  we  have  to  stay  out  here  all 
night?"  she  asked. 

"I  guess  so,"  Teddy  answered.  "But 
it  11  be  just  like  camping  out.  Daddy  and 
Uncle  Frank  and  the  cowboys  are  going  to 
stay  out." 

"Yes,  but  they've  got  something  to  eat," 
objected  Janet,  "and  we  haven't  anything. 
Not  even  a  cookie — lessen  you've  got  one  in 
your  pocket,  Teddy." 

"No,  Jan,"  answered  her  brother,  after  a 
quick  search,  "I  haven't.  I  forgot  to  bring 
any." 

"So  did  I,"  went  on  Janet.     "I  don't 


224     The  Curlytops  at  Uncle  Frank's  Ranch 

think  I  like  to  stay  out  here  alone  all  night 
if  we  haven't  anything  to  eat." 

"No,  it  won't  be  much  fun,"  agreed 
Teddy.  "I  guess  maybe  I  can  find  those 
rocks,  Janet,  and  then  we'll  know  how  to 
get  home.  Come  on." 

He  turned  his  pony's  head  and  the  tired 
little  animal  walked  slowly  on  and  Janet's 
Star  Face  followed.  But  the  truth  of  the 
matter  was,  Ted  did  not  know  in  which  di- 
rection to  guide  his  little  horse.  He  could 
not  remember  where  the  rocks  lay.  But 
Janet  was  trusting  to  him,  and  he  felt 
he  must  do  his  best. 

So  he  kept  on  until  it  grew  a  little  darker, 
and  his  pony  was  walking  so  slowly  that 
Trouble  would  have  found  it  easy  to  have 
walked  almost  as  fast. 

"What's  the  matter?"  asked  Janet,  who 
was  riding  behind  her  brother,  looking  as 
hard  as  she  could  through  the  darkness  for 
a  sight  of  the  rocks,  which,  once  they  were 
reached,  almost  meant  home.  "What's  the 
matter,  Ted?" 

"Matter  with  what,  Jan?" 

"What  makes  the  ponies  go  so  slow?" 

"  'Cause  they're  tired,  I  guess." 

" Can't  you  find  the  rocks  and  let  them 


The  Hidden  Valley 225 

rest  and  get  a  drink?    I'm  awful  thirsty, 
Teddy!" 

"So'm  I,  Jan.  We'll  go  on  a  little  more 
and  maybe  we  '11  find  the  rocks.  Don 't  cry ! ' ' 

"Pooh!  who's  goin'  to  cry?"  demanded 
Janet  quickly. 

"I — I  thought  maybe  you  were,"  Teddy 
answered. 

"I  am  not!"  and  Janet  was  very  positive 
about  it.  "But  I'm  tired  and  hungry,  and 
I  want  a  drink  awful  bad." 

"So  do  I,"  added  Teddy.  "We'll  go  on 
a  little  more." 

So,  wearily,  the  ponies  walked  on  carrying 
the  Curlytops.  Ted  kept  looking  ahead,  and 
to  the  left  and  right,  trying  to  find  the  rocks. 
But,  had  he  only  known  it  (which  he  did 
later)  he  was  going  away  from  them  all  the 
while  instead  of  toward  them. 

All  at  once  Clipclap  stumbled  and  nearly 
fell. 

"Whoa  there!  Look  out!"  cried  Teddy, 
reining  up  the  head  of  his  animal  as  he  had 
seen  Uncle  Frank  do.  "Don't  fall,  Clip- 
clap!" 

"What's  the  matter?"  asked  Janet.  "Did 
he  step  in  a  hole?" 

"I  don't  know.    I  guess  he's  just  tired," 


226     The  Curlytops  at  Uncle  Frank's  Ranch 

and  Teddy 's  voice  was  sad.  For  he  was  very 
weary  and  much  frightened,  though  he  did 
not  tell  Janet  so. 

"Well,  let's  stop  and  rest,"  said  his  sis- 
ter. ' '  Do  you  think  you  can  find  those  rocks, 
Tedf" 

"No,  I  don't  guess  I  can.  I  guess  we're 
lost,  Janet." 

"Oh,  dear!"  she  answered. 

"Now  don't  cry!"  warned  Teddy. 

"I — I'm  not!"  exclaimed  his  sister.  "I 
— I  was  just  blowing  my  nose,  so  there,  The- 
o-dore  Mar-tin!" 

Teddy  grinned  in  the  darkness,  tired  as 
he  was.  He  was  glad  Janet  was  a  little 
angry  with  him.  That  meant  she  would  not 
cry,  and  if  his  sister  started  to  weep  Ted 
did  not  know  what  he  would  do.  He  might 
even  cry  himself.  He  was  not  too  big  for 
that. 

"Let's  stop  and  give  the  ponies  a  rest," 
suggested  Janet. 

' '  All  right, ' '  agreed  Teddy.  '  '  And  maybe 
they  can  hunt  around  and  find  water.  One 
of  the  cowboys  told  me  his  pony  did  that 
once  when  he  didn't  know  where  to  get  a 
drink  himself." 

"I  wish  Star  Face  could  find  water," 


The  Hidden  Valley 227 

went  on  Janet.    "I'd  drink  some  of  it,  too." 

"So  would  I — if  it  was  clean,"  said 
Teddy. 

Wearily  the  two  Curlytops  slipped  from 
their  saddles.  The  ponies  seemed  glad  of 
this,  and  at  once  began  to  eat  the  grass  that 
grew  all  about.  Teddy  and  Janet  looked  at 
them  awhile.  It  was  not  so  dark  but  what 
they  could  see  things  close  to  them,  and  the 
stars  were  twinkling  brightly  overhead. 

"They  don't  seem  very  thirsty,"  said 
Janet. 

"Maybe  they'll  start  to  go  after  water 
when  they've  had  their  supper,"  suggested 
her  brother,  with  a  sigh,  which,  however, 
Janet  did  not  hear.  "We've  got  to  wait — 
that's  all." 

The  Curlytops  sat  down  on  the  ground  and 
waited,  while  the  ponies  with  the  reins  over 
their  heads — which  was  a  sign  that  they 
must  not  go  far  away — cropped  the  sweet 
grass. 

"I  wish  we  could  eat  grass,"  said  Janet, 
after  a  bit. 

"Why?" 

"Then  we  could  eat  it  like  the  ponies  do 
and  not  be  hungry." 

"It  would  be  a  good  thing,"  Teddy  agreed. 


228     The  Curlytops  at  Uncle  Frank's  Ranch 

"But  we  can't.  I  chewed  some  sour  grass 
once,  but  I  didn't  swallow  it." 

"I  ate  some  watercress  once  at  home," 
said  Janet.  "But  I  didn't  like  it.  Anyhow 
I  don't  guess  watercress  grows  around 
here." 

"No,  "agreed  Teddy. 

Then  they  sat  and  watched  the  ponies  eat- 
ing in  the  darkness.  Clipclap  was  wander- 
ing farther  off  than  Teddy  liked  and  he 
jumped  up  and  hurried  after  his  animal. 
As  he  caught  him  Teddy  saw  something  on 
the  ground  a  little  way  off.  It  was  some- 
thing round  and  black,  and,  now  that  the 
moon  had  come  up,  he  could  see  more 
plainly. 

"What's  the  matter,  Teddy?"  Janet 
called  to  him,  as  she  saw  him  standing  mo- 
tionless, after  he  had  taken  hold  of  Clip- 
clap's  bridle.  "What  are  you  looking  at?" 

"I  don't  know  what  it  is,"  Teddy  an- 
swered. "Maybe  it's  a  prairie  dog,  but  he's 
keepin'  awful  still.  Come  and  look,  Janet." 

"Oh,  I  don't  want  to!"  she  exclaimed. 

"Oh,  come  on!"  urged  Teddy.  "It  isn't 
moving.  Maybe  you  can  tell  what  it  is." 

Janet,  making  sure  that  Star  Face  was 
all  right,  walked  over  to  her  brother.  She, 


The  Hidden  Valley 229 

too,  saw  the  dark  object  lying  on  a  bare  spot 
in  the  prairie.  It  did  not  move.  The  moon- 
light became  stronger  and  Janet,  becoming 
brave  all  of  a  sudden,  went  closer. 

"It's  nothing  but  a  bundle,  Teddy  Mar- 
tin ! ' '  she  exclaimed.  1 1  Somebody  has  drop- 
ped a  bundle. " 

' 'They  have?"  Teddy  cried.  "Then  if 
somebody's  been  past  here  they  can  find  us 
— or  we  can  find  them — and  we  aren't  lost 
any  more!" 

"Oh,  I  hope  it  comes  true  1"  sighed  Janet. 

"Here,  you  hold  Clipclap — he's  starting 
to  walk  away" — went  on  Teddy,  "and  I'll 
go  see  what  that  is." 

Janet  took  the  pony's  reins,  and  her 
brother  walked  toward  the  bundle.  He 
could  see  now  that  it  was  something  wrap- 
ped in  a  blanket,  and  as  he  came  closer  he 
saw  that  the  blanket  was  one  of  the  kind 
the  cowboys  at  Uncle  Frank's  ranch  carried 
when  they  went  out  to  spend  the  night  on 
the  prairie. 

"What  is  it  ?"  asked  Janet,  as  her  brother 
picked  up  the  bundle  and  came  back  toward 
her. 

"I  don't  know,  but  it's  heavy,"  he  an- 
swered. l  '  We  '11  open  it. ' ' 


"Maybe  we'd  better  not,"  cautioned 
Janet.  "It  isn't  ours." 

"But  we're  lost,"  Teddy  said,  "and  we 
want  to  be  found.  Maybe  there's  something 
in  this  bundle  to  help." 

The  blanket  was  fastened  with  a  strap  on 
the  outside,  and  Teddy  managed  to  unbuckle 
this  after  two  or  three  trials,  Janet  helping. 
Then,  as  the  moon  shone  down  on  what  was 
in  the  blanket,  the  Curlytops  gave  a  cry  of 
delight,  which  startled  even  the  ponies. 

"It's  something  to  eat!"  cried  Teddy. 

"And  to  drink!"  added  Janet,  as  she 
picked  up  the  canvas-covered  canteen,  or 
water  bottle,  such  as  soldiers  carry.  By 
shaking  it  she  knew  it  was  full  of  water. 

"Say,  this  is  good  luck!"  cried  Teddy. 

Stopping  no  longer  to  wonder  who  had 
dropped  the  bundle,  the  Curlytops  took  a 
drink  from  the  canteen.  They  had  not  been 
used  to  drinking  out  of  a  bottle  since  they 
were  babies,  and  some  of  the  water  ran  down 
their  necks. 

But  they  did  not  mind  this.  And,  even 
though  the  water  was  rather  warm,  they  felt 
much  better  after  having  had  a  drink. 

"I  wish  we  could  give  the  ponies  some," 
said  Janet.  "But  there  isn't  very  much, 


The  Hidden  Valley 231 

and  they  would  drink  this  all  up  and  not 
know  they'd  had  any." 

"Anyhow  I  guess  they're  not  thirsty,  or 
they'd  try  to  find  water  just  as  the  cowboys 
said  they  would, ' '  added  Teddy.  ' '  They  can 
chew  the  grass." 

He  and  Janet  looked  into  the  bundle 
again,  and  found  a  number  of  sandwiches, 
together  with  some  uncooked  bacon,  a  little 
ground  coffee,  a  small  coffee-pot  and  a  tin 
cup. 

"Oh,  goody!  We  can  eat  the  sandwiches," 
Janet  said. 

"And  in  the  morning,  when  we  find  a 
spring,  we  can  make  coffee,"  added  Teddy. 
"I  know  how,  'cause  grandpa  showed  me 
when  we  were  camping  on  Star  Island.  I 
haven't  any  matches  to  make  a  fire,  but 
maybe  I  can  find  some." 

"Will  we  have  to  stay  here  all  night?" 
asked  Janet  anxiously. 

"I  spect  so,"  her  brother  answered.  "I 
don't  know  the  way  back  to  the  ranch  house. 
We  can't  even  find  the  rocks.  We'll  stay 
here  all  night.  It  isn't  cold,  and  now  we 
have  a  blanket  we  can  wrap  up  in  it  like  the 
cowboys  do.  And  we've  something  to  eat 
and  drink." 


232     The  Curlytops  at  Uncle  Frank's  Ranch 

"But  mother  and  daddy  will  be  awful 
worried,'7  said  Janet. 

"Well,  they'll  maybe  come  and  find  us," 
answered  Teddy.  "Look  out!"  he  cried. 
"Clipclap's  going  off:  again!" 

Indeed  the  little  pony  seemed  to  want  to 
walk  away,  and  so  did  Star  Face. 

"Maybe  they  know  where  to  go  to  find 
water,"  suggested  Janet. 

"Maybe,"  agreed  Ted.  "Let's  let  'em  go, 
and  we'll  go  with  'em.  That  water  in  the 
canteen  won't  be  enough  till  morning." 

The  children  ate  nearly  all  of  the  sand- 
wiches, and  put  away  the  rest  of  the  food  in 
the  blanket  which  Teddy  strapped  around 
it.  Then  they  mounted  their  ponies,  Ted 
taking  the  bundle  with  him,  and  let  the  ani- 
mals wander  which  way  they  would. 

"They'll  go  to  water  if  they're  thirsty 
enough,"  Teddy  said. 

"Who  do  you  s'pose  dropped  that  bun- 
dle?" asked  Janet. 

"A  cowboy,"  her  brother  answered. 

"One  from  Ring  Rosy  Ranch?" 

"Maybe." 

"Oh,  I  hope  he  did,  and  that  he's  around 
here  somewhere,"  went  on  Janet.  "I'm 
tired  of  being  lostf" 


The  Hidden  Valley  233 

"We've  only  just  begun/'  Teddy  said. 
But,  truth  to  tell,  he  wished  very  much  that 
they  were  both  safe  back  at  the  ranch  house 
with  their  mother. 

On  and  on  over  the  moonlit  prairies  went 
Star  Face  and  Clipclap.  They  seemed  to 
know  where  they  were  going  and  did  not 
stop.  Ted  and  Janet  were  too  tired  to  guide 
them.  They  were  both  getting  sleepy. 

Pretty  soon  Janet  saw  ahead  of  her  some- 
thing glistening  in  the  stretch  of  the  prairie. 
The  moonlight  seemed  to  sparkle  on  it. 

"Oh,  look,  Ted!"  she  cried,  pointing. 

"It's  water — a  little  river!"  he  exclaimed. 
"The  ponies  have  led  us  to  water!" 

And  so  the  animals  had.  Teddy  and  Janet 
slipped  from  their  ponies'  backs  at  the  edge 
of  the  stream  and  then  Star  Face  and  Clip- 
clap  took  long  drinks.  Ted  emptied  the  can- 
teen, filled  it  with  the  cooler  water,  and  he 
and  Janet  drank  again.  Then  they  felt 
much  better. 

The  ponies  again  began  to  crop  the  grass. 
The  Curlytops,  very  tired  and  sleepy,  felt 
that  it  would  be  all  right  to  make  their  bed 
in  the  blanket  they  had  found,  dropped  by 
some  passing  cowboy. 

But  first  Ted  looked  around.    Off  to  one 


234 


side,  and  along  the  stream  from  which  they 
had  drunk,  he  saw  something  dark  looming 
up. 

"Look,  Janet, "  he  said.  "Maybe  that's 
a  ranch  house  over  there,  and  we  could  go 
in  for  the  night." 

"Maybe,"  she  agreed.    "Let's  go  to  it." 

Once  more  they  mounted  their  ponies. 
The  animals  did  not  seem  so  tired  now, 
but  trotted  on  over  the  prairie.  They  drew 
nearer  to  the  dark  blotch  Teddy  had  no- 
ticed. 

Then,  as  the  moon  came  out  from  behind 
some  clouds,  the  Curlytops  saw  that  they 
were  at  the  entrance  to  a  hidden  valley — a 
little  valley  tucked  away  among  the  hills, 
which  they  would  never  have  seen  had  they 
not  come  to  the  stream  to  drink. 

The  little  river  ran  through  the  valley, 
and  in  the  moonlight  the  children  could  see 
that  a  fence  had  been  made  at  the  end  near- 
est them.  It  was  a  wooden  fence,  and  not 
one  of  barbed  wire,  such  as  there  were  many 
of  on  Ring  Rosy  Ranch. 

"This  is  a  queer  valley,"  said  Janet. 

"Yes,  and  look!"  exclaimed  Ted,  point- 
ing. "Don't  you  see  things  moving  around 
in  it?" 


The  Hidden  Valley 235 

'  *  Yes, ' '  agreed  Jan,  as  she  looked.  ' '  Why, 
Ted!"  she  cried.  "They're  horses — ponies 
—a  lot  of  'em!" 

"So  they  are!"  exclaimed  Ted.  "Oh, 
we're  near  a  ranch,  Janet!  Now  we're  all 
right!" 

"Yes.  But  maybe  we're  a  good  way  from 
the  ranch  house,"  answered  Janet.  "We 
maybe  can't  find  it  in  the  dark.  Some  of 
Uncle  Frank's  ponies  are  five  miles  away 
from  the  stable,  you  know.  Maybe  we'd  bet- 
ter not  go  on  any  more  in  the  dark.  I'm 
tired!" 

' '  Well, ' '  agreed  Teddy.  ' '  I  guess  we  could 
stay  here  till  it's  morning.  We  could  sleep 
in  the  blanket.  It's  plenty  big  enough  for 
us  two." 

"And  in  the  morning  we  can  ride  on  and 
find  the  ranch,  and  the  cowboys  there  will 
take  us  to  Ring  Rosy, ' '  added  Janet.  i  l  Let 's 
doit,  Teddy." 

They  looked  again  at  the  strange  valley 
in  which  the  horses  were  moving  about. 
Clipclap  whinnied  and  one  of  the  other 
ponies  answered.  But  they  could  not  come 
out  because  of  the  fence,  part  of  which  was 
built  in  and  across  the  little  river. 

Then,  throwing  the  reins  over  the  heads 


236     The  Curlytops  at  Uncle  Frank's  Ranch 

of  their  ponies,  and  knowing  the  animals 
would  not  stray  far,  Ted  and  Janet,  taking 
another  drink  from  the  canteen,  rolled  up  in 
the  blanket  and  went  to  sleep  on  the  prairie 
just  outside  the  hidden  valley  that  held  a  se- 
cret of  which  they  did  not  even  dream. 


CHAPTER  XX 

BACK  TO  RING  ROSY 

"I  HOPE  the  Curlytops  won't  ride  too  far," 
said  Mrs.  Martin,  coming  out  into  the 
kitchen  to  help  with  the  work. 

She  had  just  got  Trouble  to  sleep  after 
Teddy  and  Janet  had  brought  him  in  from 
the  haymow  before  riding  off.  on  their 
ponies. 

"Oh,  I  guess  they  won't,"  Aunt  Millie  an- 
swered. 

But,  could  Mrs.  Martin  and  Aunt  Millie 
have  seen  them,  they  would  have  been  much 
surprised  to  know  where  the  Curlytops  then 
were. 

As  you  know,  they  were  riding  along  the 
trail  after  the  Indians. 

The  hours  went  on  until  it  was  late  after- 
noon. And  then,  when  the  children  did  not 
come  back,  Mrs.  Martin  began  to  be  alarmed. 
She  went  to  the  top  of  a  low  hill  not  far  away, 

237 


238     The  Curlytops  at  Uncle  Frank's  Ranch 

from  the  ranch  house  and  looked  across  the 
prairie. 

"I  can't  see  them,"  she  said,  when  she 
came  back. 

"Oh,  don't  worry,"  returned  Aunt  Millie. 
"They'll  be  along  pretty  soon.  And,  any- 
how, there  is  no  danger." 

"But — the  Indians?"  questioned  Mrs. 
Martin. 

"Oh,  they  are  far  enough  off  by  this 
time, ' '  said  the  ranch  owner 's  wife.  l '  They 
won't  bother  the  Curlytops." 

But  Mother  Martin  did  worry,  and  when 
supper  time  came  near  and  Janet  and  Teddy 
were  not  yet  back,  Aunt  Millie,  too,  began  to 
think  it  strange. 

"What  do  you  suppose  could  happen?" 
asked  Mrs.  Martin.  "I  wish  Dick  were 
here." 

"Oh,  lots  of  little  things  might  happen," 
said  Aunt  Millie.  "The  children  may  have 
ridden  farther  than  they  meant  to.  It 's  such 
a  nice  day  for  riding  you  couldn't  blame 
them  for  going.  Or  one  of  their  ponies  may 
have  gone  lame  and  have  to  walk  slowly. 
That  would  make  them  get  here  late." 

"Suppose  they  should  be  hurt?"  asked 
Mother  Martin,  anxiously. 


Back  to  Ring  Rosy  239 

"Oh,  I  don't  suppose  anything  of  the 
sort!"  and  Aunt  Millie  laughed.  But 
Mother  Martin  did  not  feel  like  laughing. 

At  last,  however,  when  it  began  to  get 
dark  and  the  children  had  not  come,  even  the 
cowboys  left  at  the  ranch — those  who  had 
not  ridden  on  the  trail  after  the  Indians — 
said  it  was  time  something  was  done. 

"We'll  go  out  and  find  'em,"  said  Baldy. 
"The  little  tykes  have  got  lost;  that's  about 
all.  We'll  find  'em  and  bring  'em  home!" 

"Oh,  I  hope  you  can!"  exclaimed  Mrs. 
Martin. 

1 1  Sure  we  will ! ' '  cried  B  aldy .  * '  Won 't  we, 
boys?" 

"That's  what  we  will !"  cried  the  cowboys. 

The  men  started  out  over  the  prairie  right 
after  supper,  carrying  lanterns,  not  so  much 
that  they  needed  the  lights  as  that  they  might 
be  seen  by  the  lost  children. 

"Hello,  Curly  tops!  where  are  you?" 
called  the  cowboys. 

But  no  one  answered  them.  Teddy  and 
Janet  were  far  away. 

The  cowboys  rode  as  far  as  the  pile  of 
rocks  where  the  spring  bubbled  up.  There 
Baldy,  swinging  his  lantern  to  and  fro,  said 
he  thought  he  could  see  the  marks  of  the  feet 


240     The  Curlytops  at  Uncle  Frank's  Ranch 

of  Star  Face  and  Clipclap  among  those  of 
other  ponies,  but  he  was  not  sure. 

"We'll  have  to  come  back  here  and  start 
out  early  in  the  morning  when  we  can  see 
better,"  he  said. 

"And  what  are  we  going  to  do  all  night?" 
asked  another  cowboy. 

"Well,  we'll  keep  on  hunting,  of  course. 
But  I  don't  believe  we'll  find  the  lost  Curly- 
tops." 

One  of  the  men  rode  back  to  the  ranch  to 
tell  Mrs.  Martin  that  so  far,  no  trace  of  the 
missing  children  had  been  found.  She  could 
not  keep  back  her  tears,  but  she  tried  to  be 
brave. 

"Oh,  where  can  they  be?"  she  asked. 

"They'll  be  all  right,"  the  cowboy  said. 
"It's  a  nice  warm  night,  and  they're  brave 
children.  Even  if  they  had  to  sleep  out  it 
would  not  hurt  'em.  They  could  take  the 
blankets  that  are  under  the  ponies'  saddles 
and  wrap  up  in  them.  They'll  be  all  right." 

Though  they  were  lost,  the  Curlytops 
were,  at  that  moment,  much  better  off  than 
the  cowboy  thought.  For  they  had  found  the 
big  blanket  and  the  bundle  of  food,  and  they 
were  sleeping  soundly  on  the  prairie. 

At  first  they  had  been  a  little  afraid  to  lie 


Back  to  Ring  Rosy  241 

down  all  alone  out  in  the  night,  but  their 
ponies  were  with  them,  and  Janet  said  it 
felt  as  though  Clipclap  and  Star  Face  were 
like  good  watch  dogs. 

Then,  being  very  tired  and  having  had 
something  to  eat  and  drink,  they  fell  asleep. 

All  night  long,  though,  the  cowboys  rode 
over  the  prairie  looking  for  the  lost  ones. 
They  shouted  and  called,  but  the  Curlytops 
were  too  far  away  to  hear  or  to  answer,  even 
if  they  had  been  awake. 

"Well,  now  we  can  make  a  better  hunt," 
said  Baldy,  when  he  saw  the  sun  beginning 
to  rise.  "We'll  get  something  to  eat  and 
start  out  from  the  spring  in  the  rocks.  I'm 
almost  sure  the  Curlytops  were  there." 

Mrs.  Martin  had  not  slept  all  night,  and 
when  the  cowboys  came  back  to  breakfast 
she  said  she  was  going  to  ride  with  them  to 
search  for  her  children. 

"Yes,  I  think  it  would  do  you  good,"  said 
Aunt  Millie. 

Mrs.  Martin  had  learned  how  to  ride  when 
a  girl,  and  she  had  practised  some  since  com- 
ing to  Ring  Rosy  Ranch.  So  she  did  not  feel 
strange  in  the  saddle.  With  Baldy  and  the 
other  cowboys  she  set  off. 

They  went  to  the  spring  amid  the  rocks 


242     The  Curlytops  at  Uncle  Frank's  Ranch 

and  there  began  the  search.  Over  the 
prairie  the  riders  spread  out  like  a  big  fan, 
looking  everywhere  for  the  lost  ones.  And 
when  they  were  not  found  in  about  an  hour 
Baldy  said : 

"Well,  there's  just  a  chance  that  their 
ponies  took  them  to  Silver  Creek.77 

" Where 7s  that?77  asked  Mrs.  Martin. 

"It7s  a  stream  of  water  quite  a  way  off,77 
Baldy  answered.  "It  isn't  on  our  ranch, 
and  we  don7t  very  often  go  there.  But  if 
the  Curlytops7  ponies  were  thirsty  in  the 
night  they  might  go  to  Silver  Creek,  even  if 
Jan  and  Ted  didn7t  want  them  to.  I  think 
the  ponies  went  the  nearest  way  to  water.77 

"Then  let  us  go  that  way!77  cried  Mrs. 
Martin. 

Meanwhile  Teddy  and  Janet  had  awak- 
ened. They  could  look  right  into  the  strange 
valley  through  which  flowed  Silver  Creek, 
though  they  did  not  then  know  its  name. 

"And  look  what  a  lot  of  horses!77  cried 
Janet. 

' t  And  cows ! 7  7  added  her  brother.  ' '  I  won- 
der whose  they  are  ?" 

"Oh,  I  guess  they  live  on  some  ranch,7' 
Janet  said.  "Now  if  we  can  find  the  ranch 
house  we7ll  be  all  right.77 


Back  to  Ring  Rosy  243 

"We'll  look  for  it,"  suggested  Teddy. 
"But  first  we've  got  to  have  breakfast.  If 
I  had  a  match  I  could  make  a  fire  and  boil 
some  coffee." 

"Let's  not  bother  with  breakfast,"  sug- 
gested Janet.  "I'm  not  very  hungry.  And 
if  we  find  the  ranch  house  we  can  get  some- 
thing to  eat  there.  Come  on,  Teddy." 

They  got  a  drink  at  the  stream,  and  then, 
rolling  up  what  food  was  left  in  the  blanket, 
they  got  on  their  ponies  and  rode  away, 
going  around  the  valley  instead  of  into  it, 
for  Teddy  saw  that  hills  closed  it  at  the  far 
end. 

"There's  no  ranch  house  in  that  valley," 
he  said. 

The  Curlytops  had  not  ridden  far  before 
Janet,  who  had  gone  a  little  ahead  of  Teddy, 
cried : 

' 1  Oh,  look !   Here  come  some  cowboys ! ' ' 

"I  guess  they  belong  to  this  ranch — the 
one  where  we  saw  the  ponies  and  cows,"  re- 
plied Teddy,  as  he  saw  a  number  of  horse- 
men riding  toward  them.  The  horsemen  be- 
gan to  whoop  and  shout,  and  their  horses  ran 
very  fast  toward  the  Curlytops. 

"There's  a  lady  with  'em,"  remarked 
Janet. 


244     The  Curlytops  at  Uncle  Frank's  Ranch 

"They  seem  awful  glad  to  meet  us,"  went 
on  Teddy.  "Look,  they're  wavin'  their 
hats." 

And  so  the  cowboys  were.  When  the  rid- 
ers came  a  little  nearer  Teddy  and  Janet 
rubbed  their  eyes  in  surprise. 

"Why  —  why!"  Teddy  exclaimed. 
"There's  our  own  Baldy!" 

"And  there's  mother!"  fairly  shouted 
Janet.  "Oh,  Mother!  Mother!"  she  cried. 
"Oh,  how  glad  I  am!"  and  she  made  Star 
Face  run  toward  the  lady  on  horseback. 

"Oh,  my  dear  children!  Where  have  you 
been?"  asked  Mrs.  Martin,  a  little  later,  as 
she  hugged  first  Janet  and  then  Teddy. 

"We — we  got  lost,"  Teddy  answered. 

"Yes,  but  you  ran  away,  and  that  was  not 
right,"  his  mother  told  him.  "Where  did 
you  go?" 

"We — we  went  on  the  trail  after  the  In- 
dians," Teddy  answered. 

"Did  you  find  them?"  asked  Baldy  with 
a  smile. 

"No,  but  we  found  a  lot  of  horses  and  cows 
back  there  in  a  little  valley  with  a  fence," 
said  Janet.  "And  we  were  going  to  ride  to 
the  ranch  house  when  we  saw  you." 

"Ranch  house!"  cried  Baldy.     "There 


Back  to  Ring  Rosy  245 

isn't  a  ranch  house  within  fifteen  miles  ex- 
cept the  one  at  Ring  Rosy.  Did  you  say  you 
saw  some  cows  and  horses?" 

"Yes.    In  a  valley,"  explained  Teddy. 

"Show  us  where  it  was!"  eagerly  cried 
the  cowboy,  and  when  the  Curlytops  had  rid- 
den to  it,  with  Baldy  and  the  others  follow- 
ing, the  lame  cowboy,  whose  foot  was  a  little 
better,  exclaimed: 

"Well,  if  the  Curlytops  haven't  gone  and 
done  it!" 

"Done  what?"  asked  their  mother. 

"They've  found  the  lost  cattle  and 
horses!" 

"You  mean  Uncle  Frank's?"  asked 
Teddy. 

"That's  just  what  I  mean!  These  are  the 
horses  and  cattle  the  Indians  drove  away. 
The  Redmen  put  the  animals  in  this  valley 
and  made  a  fence  at  this  end  so  they  couldn't 
get  out.  They  knew  the  horses  and  cattle 
would  have  water  to  drink  and  grass  to  eat, 
and  they'd  stay  here  a  long  while — until  the 
Indians  would  have  a  chance  to  drive  'em 
farther  away  and  sell  'em. 

"Yes,  that's  just  what  they  did.  I  never 
thought  of  this  valley,  though  I  saw  it  quite 
a  few  years  ago.  I've  never  been  here  since. 


246     The  Curlytops  at  Uncle  Frank's  Ranch 

The  Indians  knew  it  would  be  a  good  place 
to  hide  the  horses  they  stole,  and  we  might 
never  have  found  'em  if  it  hadn't  been  for 
you  Curlytops." 

"  I  'm  glad !"  said  Teddy. 

"So'm  I,"  said  Janet,  "and  I'm  hungry, 
too!" 

"Well,  we'll  soon  have  you  back  at  Ring 
Rosy  Ranch,  where  there's  a  good  break- 
fast!" laughed  Baldy.  "Well!  Well!  To 
think  of  you  Curlytops  finding  what  we  cow- 
boys were  looking  all  over  for!" 

"And  are  daddy  and  Uncle  Frank  look- 
ing for  these  horses  and  cattle?"  asked 
Teddy. 

"Yes.  And  for  the  Indians  that  took  'em. 
But  I  guess  they  won't  find  either,"  Baldy 
answered. 

And  Baldy  was  right.  Some  hours  after 
the  Curlytops  were  back  at  Ring  Rosy 
Ranch,  in  rode  Uncle  Frank  and  the  others. 
They  had  not  found  what  they  had  gone 
after,  and  you  can  imagine  how  surprised 
they  all  were  when  told  that  Ted  and  Janet 
had,  by  accident,  found  the  lost  cattle  and 
horses  in  the  hidden  valley. 

"You're  regular  cowboys!"  cried  Uncle 
Frank. 


Back  to  Ring  Rosy  247 

"I  knew  they'd  turn  out  all  right  when 
they  learned  to  ride  ponyback !"  said  Daddy 
Martin.  " Though  you  mustn't  ride  on  the 
trail  alone  after  Indians  again!"  he  said. 

Teddy  and  Janet  told  all  that  had  hap- 
pened to  them,  from  getting  lost,  to  finding 
the  blanket  and  going  to  sleep  in  it  on  the 
open  prairie. 

One  of  the  cowboys  with  Uncle  Frank  had 
lost  the  blanket,  and  he  said  he  was  glad  he 
dropped  it,  since  it  gave  Teddy  and  Janet 
something  to  eat  and  something  to  wrap  up 
in. 

That  afternoon  the  stolen  horses  and  cat- 
tle were  driven  in  from  the  hidden  valley; 
so  the  Indians  did  not  get  them  after  all. 
And  a  little  later  some  soldiers  came  to  keep 
guard  over  the  Redmen  so  they  could  not 
again  go  off  their  reservation  to  make 
trouble.  All  of  Uncle  Frank's  animals,  ex- 
cept a  few  that  the  Indians  had  sold,  were 
found,  and  the  Curlytops  were  the  pride  of 
King  Rosy  Ranch  as  long  as  they  remained 
there. 

"Well,  I  wonder  if  we'll  have  any  more 
adventures,"  said  Janet  to  her  brother  one 
day,  about  a  week  after  they  were  lost  and 
had  been  found. 


248     The  Curlytops  at  Uncle  Frank's  Ranch 

1 '  Oh,  I  guess  so, ' '  he  answered.  ' l  Anyhow, 
we've  got  two  nice  ponies,  and  we  can  have 
lots  of  rides.  Come  on,  I'll  race  you.11 

The  bright  summer  days  brought  more 
fun  to  Teddy  and  Janet  at  Uncle  Frank's 
ranch.  They  rode  many  miles  on  Star  Face 
and  Clipclap,  sometimes  taking  Trouble  with 
them. 

"I  want  to  dwive,"  said  the  little  fellow 
one  day,  as  he  sat  on  the  saddle  in  front  of 
his  brother. 

"All  right,  you  may  drive  a  little  while," 
Teddy  answered,  and  he  let  Baby  William 
hold  the  reins. 

"Now  I  a  cowboy!"  exclaimed  the  little 
fellow.  "Gid-dap,  Clipclap!  I  go  lasso  a 
Injun!" 

Ted  and  Janet  laughed  at  this. 

And  so,  leaving  the  Curlytops  to  their  fun, 
we  will  say  good-bye. 

THE  END 


THE  CURLYTOPS  SERIES 


BY  HOWARD  R.  GARIS 

Author  of  the  famous  "Bedtime  Animal  Stories" 

12mo.     Cloth.     Illustrated.    Jacket  in  full  color 
Price  per  volume,  65  cents  postpaid 


Stories  for  children  by  the  best  author  of 
books  for  little  people. 

1.  THE  CURLYTOPS  AT  CHERRY  FARM 

or  Vacation  Days  in  the  Country 

A  tale  of  happy  vacation  days  on  a  farm. 
The  Curlytops  have  exciting  adventures. 


2.  THE  CURLYTOPS  ON  STAR  ISLAND 

or  Camping  out  with  Grandpa 

The  Curlytops  were  delighted  when  grandpa  took  them  to  camp 
on  Star  Island.    There  they  had  great  fun  and  a  real  mystery. 

3.  THE  CURLYTOPS  SNOWED  IN 

or  Grand  Fun  with  Skates  and  Sleds 

Winter  was  a  jolly  time  for  the  Curlytops,  with  their  skates  and 
sleds,  on  the  lakes  and  hills. 

4.  THE  CURLYTOPS  AT  UNCLE  FRANK'S  RANCH 

or  Little  Folks  on  Pony  Back 

Out  West  on  their  uncle's  ranch  they  have  a  wonderful  time 
among  the  cowboys  and  on  pony  back. 

!  5.    THE  CURLYTOPS  AT  SILVER  LAKE 

or  On  the  Water  with  Uncle  Ben 

The  Curlytops  camp  out  with  Uncle  Ben  on  the  shores  of  a 
beautiful  lake. 

6.    THE  CURLYTOPS  AND  THEIR  PETS 

or  Uncle  Toby's  Strange  Collection 

When  an  old  uncle  leaves  them  to  care  for  his  collection  of  pets, 
they  get  up  a  circus  for  charity. 

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BROTHER  AND  SISTER  SERIES 


BY  JOSEPHINE  LAWRENCE 

12mo.     Cloth.     Illustrated.    Jacket  in  full  colors 

Price  per  volume,  60  cents,  postpaid 


.BROTHER  :: 


Brother  and  Sister  are  the  youngest  of  a  large 
family  of  children  and  because  they  are  so  eager 
to  do  as  the  others  do,  Roddy  and  Betty  some- 
times tumble  into  a  peck  of  mischief. 

These  books  will  appeal  especially  to  boys 
and  girls  from  four  to  eight  years  old. 


1.     BROTHER  AND  SISTER 

Brother  and  Sister  are  busy  and  happy  all 
of  the  time  and  make  friends  easily.  They 
learn  that  some  children  have  less  of  the  good  things  than  they  and 
set  out  to  help  them. 

2.  BROTHER  AND  SISTER'S  SCHOOLDAYS 

Brother  and  Sister  attend  the  Ridgeway  public  school  where 
their  little,  poor  friend  Mickey  Gaffney  is  also  a  pupil.  Brother  and 
Mickey  try  to  find  a  missing  gem  which  their  teacher  loses  from  her 
ring  which  gets  them  into  trouble  with  the  janitor. 

3.  BROTHER  AND  SISTER'S  HOLIDAYS 

Thanksgiving  Day  at  their  grandmother's  house  was  lots  of  fun 
for  Brother  and  Sister;  also  their  Christmas  time,  when  they  helped 
the  "poor  people"  for  miles  around. 

4.  BROTHER  AND  SISTER'S  VACATION 

Many  strange  things  happen  to  Brother  and  Sister  while  spending 
their  vacation  off  in  the  woods.  A  most  interesting  story  for  children. 

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New  York 


BY  DAVID  CORY 

12mo.     Cloth-     Illustrated  in  colors 

Price  per  volume,  60  cents,  postpaid 

Fascinating  stories  about  a  little  rabbit 
•whose  exciting  adventures  in  the  Friendly  Forest 
and  the  Pleasant  Meadow  will  delight  every 
child. 

1.    BILLY  BUNNY  AND  THE  FRIENDLY 
ELEPHANT 

Billy  Bunny's  uncle,  Mr.  Lucky  Lefthind- 
foot,  is  the  owner  of  a  circus.  The  big  ele- 
phant becomes  the  friend  of  the  little  rabbit 
and  they  have  many  strange  adventures  to- 
gether. 

2.  BILLY  BUNNY  AND  DADDY  FOX 

This  old  robber  is  on  the  watch  to  catch  the  little  rabbit,  who 
has  to  use  his  wits  to  escape  from  the  crafty  old  fox. 

3.  BILLY  BUNNY  AND  UNCLE  BULL  FROG 

Uncle  Bull  Frog  sits  all  day  on  his  log  in  the  Old  Mill  Pond 
catching  flies,  and  telling  Billy  Bunny  interesting  stories. 

4.    BILLY  BUNNY  AND  UNCLE  LUCKY  LEFTHINDFOOT 

"Uncle  Lucky,"  as  he  is  called,  because  he  is  very  rich,  owns  a 
Luckymobile,  in  which  he  takes  Billy  Bunny  out  for  a  drive  almost 
every  day. 

5.  BILLY  BUNNY  AND   ROBBIE  REDBREAST 

Billy  Bunny  gets  into  trouble  with  nearly  all  of  his  woodland 
neighbors  but  they  make  up  and  become  friends  again.  Robbie 
Redbreast  has  his  troubles  but  they  are  only  little  ones. 

6.  BILLY   BUNNY  AND   TIMMIE   CHIPMUNK 

Billy  Bunny  has  many  adventures  with  his  friends  of  the  field 
and  forest.  Timmie  Chipmunk  was  often  unlucky  but  he  was 
smart  enough  to  escape  most  of  his  dangers. 

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THE  RUBY  AND  RUTHY  SERIES 


BY    MINNIE   E.    PAULL 


I2mo.    Cloth.    Illustrated.    Price  per  volume,  65  cents,  postpaid. 


Four  bright  and  entertaining  stories  told 
in  Mrs.  Paull's  happiest  manner  are  among 
the  best  stories  ever  written  for  young  girls, 
and  cannot  fail  to  interest  any  between  the 
ages  of  eight  and  fifteen  years. 

RUBY  AND  RUTHY 

Ruby  and  Ruthie  were  not  old  enough  to 
go  to  school,  but  they  certainly  were  lively 
enough  to  have  many  exciting  adventures, 
that  taught  many  useful  lessons  needed  to 
be  learned  by  little  girls. 


RUBY'S  UPS  AND  DOWNS 

There  were  troubles  enough  for  a  dozen  grown-ups,  but  Ruby 
got  ahead  of  them  all,  and,  in  spite  of  them,  became  a  favorite 
in  the  lively  times  at  school. 


RUBY  AT  SCHOOL 

Ruby  had  many  surprises  when  she  went  to  the  impossible  place 
she  heard  called  a  boarding  school,  but  every  experience  helped 
to  make  her  a  stronger-minded  girl. 


RUBY'S   VACATION 

This  volume  shows  how  a  little  girl  improves  by  having  varie- 
ties of  experience  both  happy  and  unhappy,  provided  she  thinks, 
and  is  able  to  use  her  good  sense.  Ruby  lives  and  learns. 


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